A great 'there and back' to climb to the top of Wideford Hill which is a great viewpoint above Kirkwall and visit the impressive chambered cairn on the far side of the hill before returning to Kirkwall.
Minor road, shared walk/cyclepath, farm track, moorland path, sometimes boggy.
Buses and ferries to Kirkwall.
Pickaquoy Centre, Muddisdale Rd, Kirkwall.
Start from the Pickaquoy Centre on Muddisdale Road on the west side of Kirkwall. The centre is a sports and arts venue and has a large parking area. Begin the walk by heading up Muddisdale Road - which branches left from the road to the Pickaquoy Centre car park (or right if you have your back to the Pickaquoy Centre). When the road forks keep right of the bungalows, with the fenced sports fields on your right. Turn left at the farm gate to follow the Muddisdale footpath and cycleway as it climbs gently uphill.
As the path meanders through groups of trees, ignore any turnings to the right to eventually follow the path just to the left of a stone wall and the golf course. There are good views back to Kirkwall with the red standstone of St Magnus Cathedral dominant. The path climbs between fields and the masts on top of Wideford Hill can be seen ahead.
When Sunnybrae Road is reached turn left for a short section on the road, taking the next track on the right signed for Wideford Hill. The rough track climbs and then meets the surfaced road leading up to the summit of the hill. Turn right on this and follow this around a sharp bend and steeply uphill to reach the top where as well as a trig point, view indicator and masts there is a great view down over Kirkwall and out to the surrounding islands.
From the summit return downhill to the sharp bend (and small parking area) and take the path on the right for Wideford Cairn. The first part of the path has good views towards Finstown and the islands in the Bay of Firth. Where the path forks keep left heading downhill through a gap in an old fence to reach the fence surrounding the cairn.
The neolithic cairn dates to about 3000BC and was a communal burial site dug into the side of the hill. You can access the inside via a ladder and the sliding hatch on the top, be sure to take the torch from the box before you enter. The original narrow entrance passageway would have been at the front. By the time this cairn was excavated in the 19th century it had already been robbed so there were no remains of the Orcadian farmers and their belongings which have been found in similar cairns.
From the cairn return up the path to the Wideford Hill road and return to Kirkwall by the outward route. Turn off the road onto the track and then turn left at Sunnybrae Road before turning right onto the path back to Muddisdale and eventually the Pickaquoy Centre.
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