The Pentland Hills: Scotland’s First Great Escape

Wide view over a reservoir in the Pentland Hills with purple heather in the foreground and rounded green hills beyond, August. — Our first proper hills of the trip — the Pentlands in full August heather.

Overview — the hills on Edinburgh’s back doorstep

If you’re driving up into Scotland from the south — from Northumberland, or across from Peebles and the Borders — the Pentland Hills are the moment the country changes. One minute you’re on the main road; the next you’re parked below a horseshoe of smooth green-and-purple hills, a reservoir glinting in the glen, and a footpath climbing away into the quiet. And it’s all barely 40 minutes from the middle of Edinburgh.

For us this was one of those places that ended up on the “we’d come back just for this” list. A proper leg-stretch of a walk, a genuinely good bowl of soup at the end of it, our dog absolutely in her element, and somewhere to spend the night right there. If you’re heading north and want your first taste of Scottish hill country before you’ve even reached the Highlands, this is it.

We rated it enough to say: coming up from Peebles or up from Northumberland, the Pentlands are right up there for an overnight or two. There are a couple of stops worth making before it if you’re coming that way (see “Combine it with”) — but this is the one you’ll remember.

The story — Edinburgh’s “hills of home”

The Pentland Hills roll for about 20 miles southwest out of Edinburgh, and they’ve been the city’s escape hatch for centuries. Robert Louis Stevenson grew up in their shadow and called them the “hills of home” — he knew these paths long before he wrote Treasure Island.

The reservoirs tucked into the glens aren’t natural lochs; they were built to slake the thirst of a growing Edinburgh, and they’ve since become the calm, mirror-flat heart of a walk. The lines of Scots pine along the water are the giveaway — planted, deliberate, and now one of the most photographed sights in the range.

Today the whole area is the Pentland Hills Regional Park: working sheep farms, well-kept paths, and a genuine sense of wildness that has no business being this close to a capital city.

Reservoir in a Pentland Hills glen with a line of Scots pine trees on a spit crossing the water, green fields and hills beyond. — The pine-lined spit — the classic Pentlands reservoir view.

What you’ll actually see and do

The main event is the walk in from the car park, following the reservoir into the hills and climbing as far as your legs (and the weather) fancy. You don’t need to be a hill-walker: the low path along the water is easy and gives you the best of the views, while the braver route carries on up toward Scald Law, the highest of the Pentlands at 579m, and the rounded tops around it.

What sticks with you:

The reservoir and the pines — still water, that distinctive line of trees, sheep-cropped fields running down to the shore.
The heather — in August the hillsides turn — bell heather and ling together, magenta and purple, right up to the path edge.
The dog paradise — miles of open path, burns to splash in, and space to roam (leads near the sheep, always).
The quiet — climb 20 minutes and the crowds thin to almost nobody.

Tan-and-white dog in a blue harness sitting on a grassy Pentland hillside looking out over the hills. — Her happy place. Dogs love the Pentlands — just watch for sheep.

A walker with a rucksack and a small dog heading down a footpath toward a reservoir in the Pentland Hills. — Heading down to the water — the low path is the easy, scenic option.

Close-up of purple and magenta heather in bloom on a Pentland hillside in August. — Why August is the month — the heather does this for only a few weeks.

Best time to visit

August is the showstopper for the heather — the hills genuinely turn purple, and that’s a short window (roughly mid-August into early September). But the Pentlands are a year-round walk: fresh and green in spring, golden in autumn, and starkly beautiful under winter frost.

Two honest notes:

These are breezy, exposed hills — bring a layer and a waterproof even on a bright day; the tops make their own weather.
On the plus side, that same wind keeps the midges down — this is not a midge-plagued spot the way the west coast can be.

Nearest café, campsite & motorhome stop

Here’s the part that makes the Pentlands so easy: there’s a café right on the car park, next to where the main walk starts. Walk first, soup after — that was our order of the day, and it’s a good one.

Two bowls of green vegetable soup with grilled bread on patterned plates on a wooden outdoor café table. — The reward. Hot soup and grilled bread at the café by the car park — exactly what you want after the hill.

Staying overnight: you can stay the night in the main car park here, and it made a brilliant base for us in the 594. One important caveat — when we visited they were completely rebuilding the car park, so by the time you read this it’s very likely become a paid / height-barriered site rather than the free-and-easy stop it once was. Check the current setup before you rely on it (I’ve flagged this to confirm — see the note at the foot of the page).

Scottish Outposts tip: it’s a normal, level surfaced car park — fine for our Hymer 594 and most campervans and mid-size motorhomes. If a height barrier has gone in with the renovation, larger motorhomes may be shut out — worth a call ahead.

Combine it with

This is where the Pentlands earn their place as a southern gateway into Scotland. If you’re driving up from Northumberland, or over from Peebles and the Borders, they make a natural first-or-second night on Scottish soil before you push on.

Coming up from the south: there are a couple of worthwhile stops to break the journey before you reach the Pentlands if you’re coming that way — [Kevin to name these two — I’ve left the slot so we get them right].
Onward: you’re 40 minutes from Edinburgh — an easy day in the city before you turn north, and the natural jump-off point onto the Grand Tour of Scotland and everything beyond.

A walker and small dog on a hill path with rounded green Pentland hills and a reservoir stretching into the distance. — The bigger picture — this is your first Scottish hill country coming up from the south.

Reality notes

🚗 Parking / overnight: main car park by the café; overnight was possible but was being fully renovated on our visit — assume it’s now paid and possibly height-barriered. Confirm before arrival.
🚐 Vehicle suitability: level surfaced car park, fine for cars, campervans and mid-size motorhomes (our 594 was no problem). Watch for a new height barrier post-renovation if you’re in a big rig.
🦟 Midges: low — the hills are open and breezy. A rare Scottish walk you can usually do without the head-net.
🐕 Dogs: a brilliant dog walk, but it’s active sheep country — leads on near livestock, especially spring lambing.
☕ Facilities: café on the car park (soup, coffee, the essentials); toilets (confirm).
🥾 Underfoot: easy along the reservoir; rougher and steeper if you push up toward Scald Law. Proper footwear for the tops.