📌 Kirknewton, City of Edinburgh
★★
If there’s a less loved pair of summits in Scotland, we’re yet to come across them. These steep-sided, volcanic sills are surrounded by undesirable neighbours – quarries, waste transfer station, railway line and airfield – and the beginning of this route is uncomfortably close to Ravelrig Tarmac Quarry’s entrance. Nevertheless, Dalmahoy Hill sports a trig pillar and wonderful views of the capital and Pentland Hills beyond the noisy pit, while Kaimes Hill boasts an extensive western panorama. The latter summit is a rather dramatic sliver of its former self, its southern slopes having been gouged by quarrying before being re-purposed as a landfill site and finally covered over with suspiciously immaculate grass: an odd place to walk. A high col makes combining the two hills straightforward, and the unusual surroundings mean you’re fairly likely to get them to yourself.
📷 Chronological photo guide
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at minor road junction, entrance to Ravelrig Quarry, 2 mi east of Kirknewton
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NT 133674
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.891861,-3.388116
🚌 Bus to Kirknewton / Burnwynd (A71) (both 1 mi)
🚗 Limited verge parking (many lorries pass by – don’t impede access). Closer parking looks possible near the junction 400m to south at 🧭 NT 131670 / 🛰️ 55.888352,-3.391158, but this is on a private road beyond a quarry access gate
📝 Key info
▶ 4 km / 2 mi | ▲ 130 m | ⌛ 1.5-2 hr
Features: △ Kaimes Hill (259 m); △ Dalmahoy Hill (246 m)
⬤ Moderate | Quarry access road (beware lorries) then clear path to bealach. Kaimes Hill is mostly pathless grass with steep drops around the summit; Dalmahoy Hill has a faint path.
Download file for GPS➡️ T-shape walk: start – beginning of hill path at 🧭 NT 133670 – col between Kaimes Hill & Dalmahoy Hill – Kaimes Hill – return to bealach – Dalmahoy Hill – return to bealach – start by outward route
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Roe deer seen from Kaimes Hill summit. Distant horses, a buzzard, pheasants, ladybirds.
Weather: 12°C, mostly sunny with a chilly easterly breeze at times.
March 2024
