Glencorse View and Castlelaw, Flotterstone

This short waymarked circuit from the Pentland Hills Information Centre at Flotterstone offers some excellent views over the Glencorse Reservoir. The route includes an optional detour to visit the iron age hill fort and souterrain on Castle Law.

Terrain

Waymarked route following tracks, paths and minor road; muddy in parts.

Public Transport

Bus to Flotterstone Inn.

Start

Flotterstone Ranger Centre. Open start point in Google Maps for directions.

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Walk Description

Stage 1

There is a car park by the Ranger Centre, just off the A702 by the Flotterstone Inn. The centre - usually manned - is a great place to start any visit to the Pentlands with heaps of information available. Begin the walk along the path starting on the left side of the centre; this avoids the road for the first section and passes a memorial to CTR Wilson, a locally born man who won the Nobel Prize for Physics. Look out for a track on the left, signed for Scald Law and Glencorse View. The Scald Law route heads off to the left at the next junction; keep right here for Glencorse View.

Stage 2

The route now leads through two gates in quick succession to enter woodland, passing what were once the filter beds to purify the water from the reservoir, as well as a small derelict cottage. Beyond this a junction is reached. The walk forks right uphill here, but first you could detour along by the burn to get a view of the waterfall from the reservoir outflow. Return to the fork and take the path that climbs up through the pinewoods, emerging at a gate onto the minor road above. Turn left here and follow the road, soon coming alongside Glencorse Reservoir.

Stage 3

Since the 1820s this has provided some of Edinburgh's drinking water; sadly it drowned the fourteenth century chapel of St Catherine which is occasionally visible during periods of drought. Look out for a footpath sign pointing right (for both Glencorse View and Castlelaw). Take this path as it climbs steeply along the edge of a plantation.

Stage 4

At the top of the plantation the path heads through a gate to join a rough track. There are superb views back over Glencorse Reservoir from this point. Turn right to follow the track as it passes above the plantation and then contours across the slopes, with more good views across the reservoir to Turnhouse Hill. The track is lined by warning notices; the slopes of Castlelaw on the left are a MOD firing range. Continue along the track until it reaches a small plantation beside a military building, where a signpost marked 'Flotterstone' indicates the route back to the start.

Stage 5

To include a detour to Castlelaw fort before making the descent, continue along the track to Castle Law farm and once through the gate take the path that detours around the farmhouse to the right. Beyond it head up through a rough parking area, taking a signed track uphill. Look out for a gate on the left that gives access to the site of the ancient fort. A railing marks the entrance to a souterrain - an old undergound storage passage - which can still be entered. Retrace your steps to return to the path junction mentioned earlier. This time take the marked Glencorse View path, soon leaving the plantation behind, and continue downhill through gorse bushes to eventually lead back down to the reservoir road. Turn left here and follow it back to Flotterstone.

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