| Home |
| Day Walks |
| Holidays |
| Courses & Talks |
| Arthur's Seat - Tours - Self Guided Walks - Map |
| Education |
| Links & Resources |
| Gallery |
| Blog |
| About Geowalks |
| Contact details |
Arthur's Seat - Self Guided Walks
| No visit to Edinburgh is complete without a trip to Arthur's Seat. There are many different routes through Holyrood Park, suitable for all abilities. Whether you lose yourself for half a day, or drive round in 15 minutes, you'll get fantastic views and a sense of escape from the city streets. The park can be visited throughout the year, and it is difficult to get lost. Although there are steep slopes and slippery rock, it's pretty safe as long as you use common sense and don't go beyond your limits. If you'd like a guide, I'd be happy to show you around - see the Tours page for further info. If you prefer to explore by yourself, here are some suggested routes. Follow them at your own risk, and take care especially in poor visibility or high winds. But most of all enjoy Edinburgh's top attraction! To find out more about the park, I strongly recommend 'Edinburgh's Volcano' a leaflet published by the Edinburgh Geological Society, and available from bookshops in Edinburgh. |
Suggested routes 1: Red route The best walk, reasonably strenuous but the more gentle approach to the summit. A circular walk from Holyrood Palace, takes about two hours. 2: Blue route The softies walk! Escape the city streets and wander through Hunter's Bog, below the craggy slopes of Arthur's Seat, and then join the Radical Road round Salisbury Crags for great views of the city. 3: Green route The most popular route to the summit of Arthur's Seat, but it's a bit of a slog up a steep grassy slope from Dunsapie Loch on the east side of the park. It's shorter than the Red route, but feels longer! 4: Purple route When this path was being built, I was a bit unsure if it was sensible to build a path on the steep side of Arthur's Seat - but I've been converted, this is a superb climb along a beautiful stone-pitched route. Feels like you're flying up! 5: The Queen's Drive Walk it or drive it, if you don't want to leave the tarmac this curvy road takes you all the way round the park. Good views, not too steep and a good workout if you walk right round. The colour scheme is my own, and the routes marked on my map. You won't find any signposts or markers in the park, but there are usually people to ask if you feel lost. |
Getting
to the Park
There are several entrances to Holyrood Park, but the most common approaches on foot are from the Royal Mile (entering the park next to Holyrood Palace), or from the Commonwealth Pool / Pollock Halls - the Holyrood Park Road entrance.
The best walks start from Holyrood Palace (Red and Blue routes below), but the most direct route to the top of Arthur's Seat starts from the Holyrood Park Road entrance (Purple route).
THE
RED ROUTE -
take the lang rig to the top, and back by Salisbury Crags.
The route: from the Holyrood Palace car park, take the red paved path which climbs gently away from the road (not the steep path to Salisbury Crags, you'll come back that way). At the first corner, the main path continues round into Hunter's Bog (the Blue route), but take the left fork and head towards the ruin of St Anthony's Chapel. The line of cliffs leading up towards the summit of Arthur's Seat is called the Lang Rig (or Long Row) and is the remains of a basalt lava flow.
The easiest route is past the boulder marking St Anthony's Well, and then follow the grassy path behind the Lang Rig. Or if you prefer you can take the path along the foot of the cliffs, they both meet higher up.
A steady climb takes you to a rocky knoll with views to the east. You can see Dunsapie Loch below you. The worst of the climbing is over, and another five minutes climb along a rocky path - there are two to choose from - takes you to the top.
Enjoy the views, if you can! Then return to the rocky knoll, and back down the path you came on, then take the first left fork and the path which gradually descends (with steep steps) round the west face of Arthur's Seat.
| Eventually this path opens out into a grassy area at the end of Salisbury Crags, where you rejoin the Blue route. The steep path leading up is the Purple route, not for the faint-hearted. Continue straight on, with the suburbs of Edinburgh suddenly coming into view, then swing right onto the broad path along the base of the Crags - the Radical Road. Look out for Hutton's Section on the right, just at the start of the road. The Radical Road takes you in a gentle climb along the base of the Crags, with great views of the Castle rock and the centre of Edinburgh. You then descend more steeply towards the Palace and your starting point. On the way down you can admire the folly atop Calton Hill, and the new Scottish Parliament gleaming below. And that's not the first time that the parliament and folly have been mentioned in the same sentence! THE BLUE ROUTE - follow the hunters through the bog, and back by Salisbury Crags. The route: from the Holyrood Palace car park, take the red paved path which climbs gently away from the road (not the steep path to Salisbury Crags, you'll come back that way). At the first corner, where the Red route heads off for the hill, keep to the main path round to the right. |
Hutton's Section
Don't miss this most famous of rock faces, tucked away just off the Radical Road at the south end of Salisbury Crags. The rocks are impressive. The hard dolerite of Salisbury Crags lies above softer sandstones; the junction between them is irregular, demonstrating how the dolerite is formed from intrusive magma that ripped up the existing sandstone layers as it squeezed between them. The rocks are famous for their link with James Hutton, 1726-1797, the 'father of modern geology'. Hutton used these rocks to support his theory of an ancient earth, arguing that the sandstone and dolerite formed by different processes, and not at the same time. |
Our
route takes us through the broad valley of Hunter's Bog, which takes its name
from the Royal hunting parties of the past. There are good paths on both sides,
so you can cross to the left side of the valley, or stick to the right. The right-hand
path is better, with a less steep climb.
Towards the end of the valley, the paths climb with the steep slopes of Arthur's Seat to be admired on the right. You eventually climb to a grassy area at the end of Salisbury Crags, where the Red route joins us from the left. The steep path leading up is the Purple route, not for the faint-hearted. Continue straight on, with the suburbs of Edinburgh suddenly coming into view, then swing right onto the broad path along the base of the Crags - the Radical Road.
The Radical Road takes you in a gentle climb along the base of the Crags, with great views of the Castle rock and the centre of Edinburgh. You then descend more steeply towards the Palace and your starting point.
THE
GREEN ROUTE -
the lazy man's route to the top, and not as fun as the other ways.
The route: Drive or walk along the Queen's Drive to Dunsapie Loch. There are a couple of obvious paths that strike up the grassy slopes from the road, heading for the summit of Arthur's Seat. The paths cross ancient agricultural terraces, carved out by early farmers taking advantage of the well-drained soils.
The paths converge close to the rocky knoll, my favourite viewpoint and rest spot. I once found a flint scraper lying on the gravel here, and I like to imagine its owner in the past also enjoyed the view. From here, the route is more interesting (there are two paths to choose from), and it is only 5 minutes or so to the top.
THE PURPLE ROUTE - the way the crows (and fulmars) fly.
The route: the adventurous way to the top. You start from the Holyrood Park Road entrance, just along from the Commonwealth Pool. Head across the grass to the end of Salisbury Crags, where an obvious path goes through a low point in the cliffs. The start of the track up to Arthur's Seat is obvious once you cross the Crags. If you don't like the look of it, there is an easier but longer path striking off to the left.
If the weather is ok (not icy or windy), and you use common sense, you'll probably enjoy the climb. It is a beautiful path, switch-backing steeply up and cutting over to the right to bring you onto the Nether Hill. Once you start up, the slope gets steeper but the exposure isn't too bad. Stick to the path, and when you get to the end of the stone-pitched section, avoid the obvious route up to the left as this has a short tricky section of bare rock. From the grassy summit of Nether Hill, there are several paths leading to the summit of Arthur's Seat.
The route: This is a paved road, with pavement or footpath alongside, which circles Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags. The eastern side climbs high into the wild side of the park, while on the west the road is busier and swoops round the base of Salisbury Crags.
You can start at any point, but if you are driving note that most of the route is one-way in a clockwise direction, and parts are closed to traffic on Sundays. From St Margaret's Loch (the Meadowbank Entrance), the road climbs steadily to a high point at Dunsapie Loch - the Green route to the top starts here. The road continues flat round the shoulder of Arthur's Seat, and starts to descend once Salisbury Crags comes into view.
Home Day
Walks Holidays Courses
& Talks Arthur's Seat
Education Links
& Resources Gallery
Blog About Geowalks
Contact