Peebles, Scottish Borders
★★★
Long before the town of Peebles was founded, iron age settlers established three great hill forts on nearby Cademuir Hill. Much later in the 1890s, budding author John Buchan wrote a short story entitled On Cademuir Hill about the local landscape. The first half of this varied circuit follows the John Buchan Way long distance route, visiting the trio of forts with superb views over the Manor Water, which meanders haphazardly “like the scrawl of a pen of a bad writer” as perfectly described by Buchan. The return along the River Tweed has plenty else to look out for including an old viaduct, an imposing castle and numerous waterfowl.
Chronological photo guide
View back to Peebles from Morning Hill 
Bellanrigg Farm from near Red Well 
Cademuir Hill 
Looking southeast 
West hill fort 
Cademuir Hill west top 
Sheepfold on descent to Milton 
Cademuir Hill from the road along the Manor Water 
Road junction near Kirkton Manor 
Track to Barns Tower 
Barns Tower 
River Tweed near Edston 
River Tweed near Manorbridge Wood 
Crossing the Tweed 
Dismantled railway viaduct 
Neidpath Castle at Castle Banks 
West end of Hay Lodge Park 
River Tweed at Peebles
Location
O.S. Grid Reference: NT 252402
GPS coordinates: 55.649360,-3.190168
Bus to Peebles
Kingsmeadows car park
Key info
13 km / 8 mi | ▲ 240 m |
3.5-4 hr
Features: △ Cademuir Hill middle top (407 m);
Cademuir Hill forts;
River Tweed;
Peebles ★★★ & town sights
⬤ Moderate | Mostly clear paths and tracks with fairly gentle gradients, occasionally muddy. Brief pathless section on descent from Cademuir Hill, and a couple of short stretches of minor road.
Clockwise circuit: start – Cademuir Hill forts via John Buchan Way – descend northwest off ridge at
On our last visit
Wildlife: Cows & horses in adjacent fields, sheep, rabbits. Mallards, goosanders, dippers, a grey wagtail, grey herons on the Tweed. Nuthatch, treecreepers, goldfinches, rooks. Daffodils blooming.
Weather: Sunny with scattered clouds & a blustery NW wind. Temperature reaching low teens in glens.
March 2025
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