Carnethy Hill and Scald Law from Flotterstone

From Flotterstone car park the path climbs onto the ridge that runs south-west along the Pentlands, over Turnhouse Hill (506 m) and down to a dip, then up Carnethy Hill (573 m). It drops again to the Old Kirk Road, an old way over the hills that crosses the ridge in the bealach, and climbs on to Scald Law (579 m), the highest of the Pentlands. The walk returns to the same bealach and goes down the Old Kirk Road to the head of Loganlea Reservoir, then runs beside Loganlea and Glencorse reservoirs back to Flotterstone.

It is 11.8 km round with 723 m of ascent; allow about 5¼ hours. The grade is Moderate: a long day with steep climbs, on a clear hill path throughout.

The ridge is open to the wind with no shelter, and cloud can come down on the tops. The Castlelaw Range, the army's fenced firing range, lies north of Turnhouse Hill; this route stays south of it, about half a kilometre from the range boundary on OpenStreetMap. The Ministry of Defence publishes standard firing hours for Castlelaw, and says the public must not enter the Castlelaw Range Danger Area when red flags or lights are raised. The Regional Park asks walkers to respect the livestock and wildlife on its hills.

Flotterstone is one of four Pentland Hills Regional Park car parks where the Park authority announced pay machines in 2025; its pages do not give the charge. The Flotterstone Inn bus stop on the A702 is about 300 m from the car park. The nearest station, Kingsknowe, is about 7.5 km away.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.