Craiglockhart Hill
Two wooded summits in south-west Edinburgh, Easter and Wester Craiglockhart, with a pond of 1887 and a nature reserve on the eastern hill.
Craiglockhart is two hills rather than one, Easter and Wester, rising out of the south-west suburbs with the small valley of Glenlockhart between them.
The eastern hill is a Local Nature Reserve, looked after by a friends group, and it packs a great deal into a small space: open water, marsh, woodland and grassland.
At its foot is a pond first made in 1887, where swans, coots and moorhens nest in summer and tufted ducks come in winter. The woods, planted more than two centuries ago, are sycamore, elm, beech and ash, with bluebells and dog violets underneath, and orchids grow in the marsh. Kestrels and buzzards hunt over the grass, and after dark there are owls and bats.
The rocks tell an older story, of red sandstone laid down 400 million years ago and volcanoes that broke through it later. Level paths go round the pond, and steeper ones climb to the top for the view.
The reserve on Easter Craiglockhart Hill is open to wander at any time.
Level paths go round the pond and the lower woods, and steeper ones climb to the top; keep to the paths in the woods. Dogs can be walked anywhere on the hill.
- Where
- Between Craiglockhart, Morningside and Colinton Road, south-west Edinburgh.
- Dogs
- Welcome anywhere on the hill.
- Wildlife
- Swans, coot and moorhen on the pond in summer, tufted duck in winter; kestrels and buzzards over the grass.
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Add your reviewIn south-west Edinburgh, between Craiglockhart and Morningside.
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Places to stay near the hill, and when each is next free.
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