Home » Hills » Southern Uplands » Broughton Heights
Broughton Heights and Trahenna Hill
South of the Pentlands and north of the River Tweed these fine little hills give an excellent walk or run along their well define crests.
Fences aid navigation, terrain is generally soft grass underfoot and the views are expansive.
Main route summary
The main route on this page starts to the south-west of the hills, just outside the village of Broughton on the
Buchan Way - a lovely 21km low-level walk through the hills from Broughton to Peebles.
There are two alternative routes also described, one which begins from Kirkurd to the north and adds in some more peaks and the other is a description of the 'Two Breweries' race route which includes Trahenna Hill in its itinerary.
| Summits |
Clover Law (493m)
Green Law (565m)
Broughton Heights* (571m)
Hammer Head (513m)
Trahenna* (549m)
*denotes 'Marylin' peak
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| Ascent |
725m (2,400ft)
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| Distance |
11km (7m)
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| Time |
walk : 4hr*, run : 1:30hr
*Naismith's rule : 4km/h distance + 600m/h ascent
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| Start/finish |
Broughton Place
(grid ref : NT120374)
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Profile
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Maps
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Which map to choose ?
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Downloads
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| Terrain | | easy |
 | difficult |
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| Navigation | | easy |
 | testing |
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| Effort | | stroll |
| long day |
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| Scenery | | ok |
 | stunning |
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Route detail & map »
Getting there
- The picturesque village of Broughton sits on the junction of the B7016 and the A701, 7 miles due east of Biggar.
- On the north side of the village, just outside of the 30mph limit, a small stone bridge crosses Broughton Burn.
From here a narrow road heads uphill to a parking area at the end of the road by a large house.
Broughton Heights
- Leave the car park, head through a gate (marked with the 'John Buchan Way') and start up a farm-track.
- After passing some forestry and crossing Hollows Burn, look for a gap in the heather on the hillside on your left
and strike uphill.
Higher up deep heather is entered, but not for long as when the fence along the hill's crest is gained, a path following the fence is met.
- Trace the path over Clover Law and down to gate at the bealach
before Broomy Side.
The ground begins to become less heather-clad aiming up the path to Broomy Side and it's on pleasant grass covered terrain continuing over Green Law to the trig point on Wether Law, the highest point on Broughton Heights.
Trahenna Hill
- Return following the fence over Green Law to Broomy Side.
There's a junction in the fence-line
- cross the main fence and descend on a faint path through the heather downhill, aiming south-east.
- A track is crossed
and another faint path aside a fence-line and through more heather is followed uphill and onto Hammer Head.
Now on the hills' crests the route is on an obvious path and track as it follows the fence.
- On the approach to Trahenna, there is a gate in the fence-line
- cross this gate, leaving the track behind and follow faint ATV tracks.
Cross one last fence line and gain the summit with its tiny cairn and fine views.
Return
- Return north-west along the crest, over the fence-line, through some heather and pick up a path along the western side of another fence-line aiming south-west downhill.
- As the ground levels, look for one of the few faint sheep trods off right
and drop westwards.
Heather is quickly replaced by soft runnable grass for a quick descent back to the car park, though recent fencing will make a direct line awkward !
Photos of route »
Start of the main route by Broughton
At Kirkurd
Culter Fell from near the summit of Broughton Heights
Brown Dod, Ladyurd and Penvalla from Broughton Heights
Hammerhead from Broughton Place
Broughton Place with Chapelgill and Culter Fell beyond
On Broughton Height's summit looking to Broad Law
Tinto from Broughton Heights
Dollar Law and Broad Law from Trahenna
Approaching Trahenna's summit on the Two Breweries race
On Trahenna's south-western shoulder
Trahenna from its south-west shoulder
Broughton from the last descent on the Two Breweries race
More photos are on Flickr !
Alternative routes »
Broughton Heights from Kirkurd
A jog in on forestry tracks, leads to a sharp grass climb then high-level crests with fine views.
| Ascent |
600m (2,000ft)
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| Distance |
12km (7.5m)
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| Time |
walk : 4hr
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| Terrain | | easy |
| difficult |
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| Nav | | easy |
 | testing |
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| Effort | | stroll |
| long day |
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| Scenery | | ok |
| stunning |
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Getting there
- Just south of Blyth Bridge, a narrow quiet road leads to a few houses and the church and cemetary at Kirkurd.
There is space to park by the church.
Broughton Heights
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From the church, head south-east along the road to the start of a farm track.
Up this track for 250m to a gate by the edge of a small section of forestry.
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Through the gate and on a faint grassy track, head aside the forest, then uphill.
A slight drop and over a fence brings you to a vast area of foresty covering the hill ahead, there is however a gap ahead through the middle of the forest following a fence travelling uphill.
Aim up this gap until the fence line turns sharply, then continue on the same bearing through denser and darker undergrowth and the end of a track will be met.
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A jog of 1km will take you to the end of the forest and onto open hillside.
Ahead and uphill, it's a short walk over grass and tussocks of blaeberry to Wether Law and the fenceline to follow to the trig point on Broughton Heights' summit.
Brown Dod and return
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Head back along the crest following the fence, then cut down towards the col before Brown Dod - there is a faint track to follow.
- Now at the upper edge of forestry, follow the faint track along the crest to Flint Hill where the track disappears.
- A quick descent on grass gains the next col, where a gate provides access to forestry tracks.
Over the gate, take the left-hand track and follow it for 3km to a barrier (it is possible to start and finish from this point, which is accessed using a rough track from the A72, 1.5km south-east of Blyth Bridge and marked with a forestry sign 'Ladyurd').
- The track then continues past some houses, farm buildings and through a couple of gates back to Kirkurd.
Interactive OS map
Two Breweries Hill Race
Finishing at Broughton, this hill race is fairly long with rough, demanding climbs, fast tracks and road sections.
| Ascent |
1700m (5,575ft)
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| Distance |
29km (18m)
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| Time |
run : 4hr
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| Terrain | | easy |
 | difficult |
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| Nav | | easy |
| testing |
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| Effort | | stroll |
| long day |
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| Scenery | | ok |
| stunning |
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Getting there
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As the name suggests, there are two breweries - one at the start by Traquair and the other at the end by Broughton.
- The race starts from Broughton, from where runners are bused over to Traquair House.
Birkscairn Hill
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Starting in Traquair House grounds, the route heads out along the magnificent tree-lined avenue onto the public road for 1km.
- Runners are directed south-west into a field and onto a rough track which quickly gives way to rough open hillside.
- On grass, then heather higher up, faint paths can be traced to reach a forest's edge to follow to a col below Birks Hill.
Up this hill, then Birkscairn Hill shortly thereafter.
Hundleshope Heights and Stob Law
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From the summit of Birkscairn Hill, runners turn north-west and drop down rough heather clad slopes to Glensax burn below.
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Up onto Hundleshope Heights via a faint path avoiding the tiring heather and tussocks, south-east next to trace a faint trod to meet up with a path contouring north around the north side of Broom Hill's summit.
A drop to a col followed by a sharp slog uphill reaches Stob Law.
Whitelaw Hill
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A track then is used for the descent to Glenrath Farm, then a grassy track is taken into forest.
Coming to a sharp corner on the track, the route is flagged through some undergrowth, then up a fire-break to Whitelaw Hill.
Trahenna Hill
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From Whitelaw Hill, the race turns south-west along a faint path, intitially through more forest, then open hillside following a dyke and the forest edge.
At the next col, a gap in the dyke is gone through, then north-west downhill on track that improves as height is lost.
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Past some buildings, the River Tweed is crossed and a quick blast along 1km of tarmac takes the route to a turn onto a track to Stobo Home farm.
A very pleasant run through forest is followed by a drop to a bridge over Weston Burn to pick up a track.
- Beyond the bridge, runners aim to stay on the track until it turns sharply back on itself which leads to a faint path through the wet rush grass.
A last slog up Trahenna's steep grass-covered hillside awaits !
Return to Broughton
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A faint trod is picked up from Trahenna and traced around Muir Burn's corrie, then down to a field above Broughton.
Onto tarmac, a run leads to Broughton brewery, where plenty of refreshing beer awaits.
Interactive OS map
Other hill routes nearby »
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Southern Pentland Hills
More remote than the Northern Pentlands and with fainter paths and fewer tracks.
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Moorfoots West
A high-level circuit over varied terrain. Tracks lower down give way to faint paths higher up.
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Tweedsmuir and the Moffat Hills
The three Corbetts to the east of the River Tweed source sit amongst quiet farmland and forestry
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Coulter Hills
South of Biggar lie the sprawling Coulter Hills, in which Culter Fell is the highest.
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Tinto
A fabulous hill sitting alone above the Clyde. Stunning views for very little effort
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Accommodation & food »
Forecasts & other useful info »
Guided days on these mountains »
We don't have any guided events in this area currently on our calendar of regular events.
