Deer Hope
Date walked: 17/05/2025
Time taken: 4 hours
Distance: 10km
Ascent: 330m
Still looking for remote places in the Pentlands, I spotted Deer Hope up and to the L from North Esk reservoir, and decided to explore it, with a view to returning over the set of hills N of Carlops. {A hope is a remote enclosed place}
My route
From Carlops car park I set off up the track to Fairliehope and the Reservoir
Looking back across the fields to E of S
Paties hill across the N Esk valley
Green Law and Spittal hill further back
Fairliehope where the track makes a sharp S bend
First view of the Reservoir with Cock Rig behind
You can turn off here on the Public ROW, but you have to descend again later. If you climb to the top of the fence (centre R) , a steep path leads directly up to The Mount slightly L of another fence
I took the track thru this gate into a field
Back to the reservoir
I headed straight towards the entrance the Deer Hope, but still had to drop a bit to cross the stream
Looking R to a wood beside the track to the Borestane ; Cock Rig behind again
Going thru the gate a grassy path leads up beside the stream which was almost completely dry
Heading up the narrow valley
Looking back
On up again
Two more views looking back
And two more on up
The top which is only fractionally higher, is a little way beyond the gate but there isn't any path and this was far enough and remote enough for me
At this point you are actually on the official WH route to East Cairn Hill. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lothian/east-cairn-hill.shtml
On one occasion I headed R here up to Wether Law but became trapped behind a new barbed wire fence and had to follow it East for quite a way before I could descend
The route up the Mount keeps L of the fence, but WH recommend you avoid the bog in the immediate foreground on the R
Looking back to the route up Wether Law
The top of the Mount (538m) is not marked in any way - A view to the main Pentland chain
And on to Grain Heads and Mount Maw
Looking down the path to the ROW signpost
From Grain Heads back to the Mount. In this dry weather these hills provide a lovely ridge walk
and I met a number of people. After heavy rain - Well maybe not
And on to Mount Maw
Gate at the far end of Grain Heads
At this point I noticed that there was a much better track on the W side of the fence, so I crossed over: Approach to Mount Maw
Looking back - East Cairn Hill on the L
Trig point. 535m On my first visit, I went thru the gate in this picture, descended beside a wall and eventually returned thru Carlops hill farm. Not the best
E to Scald Law etc.
And N again - back the way I had come
I returned to the little unnamed high point before Grain Heads, crossed back to the E side of the fence, and descended Carlops hill. A wonderful green vehicle track cuts through the ubiquitous Cotton grass
A final look East
Looking back up
The terrain changes
And you descend to a gate and walk down thru a field
Looking back up the field and (below) down the lane back to Carlops
A thoroughly enjoyable walk

My route
From Carlops car park I set off up the track to Fairliehope and the Reservoir
Looking back across the fields to E of S
Paties hill across the N Esk valley
Green Law and Spittal hill further back
Fairliehope where the track makes a sharp S bend
First view of the Reservoir with Cock Rig behind
You can turn off here on the Public ROW, but you have to descend again later. If you climb to the top of the fence (centre R) , a steep path leads directly up to The Mount slightly L of another fence
I took the track thru this gate into a field
Back to the reservoir
I headed straight towards the entrance the Deer Hope, but still had to drop a bit to cross the stream
Looking R to a wood beside the track to the Borestane ; Cock Rig behind again
Going thru the gate a grassy path leads up beside the stream which was almost completely dry
Heading up the narrow valley
Looking back
On up again
Two more views looking back
And two more on up
The top which is only fractionally higher, is a little way beyond the gate but there isn't any path and this was far enough and remote enough for me


At this point you are actually on the official WH route to East Cairn Hill. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lothian/east-cairn-hill.shtml
On one occasion I headed R here up to Wether Law but became trapped behind a new barbed wire fence and had to follow it East for quite a way before I could descend

The route up the Mount keeps L of the fence, but WH recommend you avoid the bog in the immediate foreground on the R
Looking back to the route up Wether Law
The top of the Mount (538m) is not marked in any way - A view to the main Pentland chain
And on to Grain Heads and Mount Maw
Looking down the path to the ROW signpost
From Grain Heads back to the Mount. In this dry weather these hills provide a lovely ridge walk




And on to Mount Maw
Gate at the far end of Grain Heads
At this point I noticed that there was a much better track on the W side of the fence, so I crossed over: Approach to Mount Maw
Looking back - East Cairn Hill on the L
Trig point. 535m On my first visit, I went thru the gate in this picture, descended beside a wall and eventually returned thru Carlops hill farm. Not the best

E to Scald Law etc.
And N again - back the way I had come
I returned to the little unnamed high point before Grain Heads, crossed back to the E side of the fence, and descended Carlops hill. A wonderful green vehicle track cuts through the ubiquitous Cotton grass



A final look East
Looking back up
The terrain changes
And you descend to a gate and walk down thru a field
Looking back up the field and (below) down the lane back to Carlops
A thoroughly enjoyable walk


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past my sell by date
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