Walking the hills of the Scottish Borders isn’t just a way to stretch your legs—it’s a portal into the ancient past.
Unlike the harsh drama of the Highlands or the sheer vertical challenge of the Lake District, the Borders hills offer something gentler, but no less profound. Here, the hills don’t feel like enemies to be conquered. They feel like companions—places not just of wilderness, but of long-forgotten lives.
And today, I set out from Peebles on a five-mile journey to meet some of those ghosts of the past—specifically, to discover one of the area’s many Iron Age hill forts.
🏞️ Welcome to Hill Fort Country
The Scottish Borders contain an astonishing 408 surviving hill forts—more per square mile than anywhere else in Europe. From ridge-top ringworks to mist-wrapped defensive walls, these ancient settlements are hidden in plain sight.
If you visited just one a week, you’d still be exploring four years later.
🌧️ Autumn Colours and Ancient Stones
Leaving Peebles in the soft autumn rain, I was surrounded by a patchwork of gold, orange, and russet—a beautiful distraction before the landscape shifted dramatically. Within minutes, I was high above the town, in a land of silence, swirling mists, and wind-torn solitude.
At 840 metres, Broad Law may be the highest point in the south, but my target was Cademuir Hill, a less prominent but deeply historic ridge just south of Peebles.
🏰 Cademuir: The Castle Hill of the Selgovae
At first, I wasn’t sure which rise was Cademuir—until I saw it. A massive, layered hill, crowned in cloud, and shaped like it was built to rule.
“That hill will be my castle,” I could almost hear a tribal chieftain declare, thousands of years ago.
And perhaps it was.
Cademuir feels like the gates to an ancient city. Its steep eastern slopes and natural defensibility made it ideal. Today, the signs of life are faint but undeniable—rock walls, earth ditches, layered scars of fortification left by the Selgovae, one of the region’s earliest tribal peoples.
🌀 A Place of Spirits and Sky
Even in the rain, the views are staggering—wide open in every direction, the valleys below now invisible in the mist, and the hilltop buzzing with a sense of presence.
You don’t just look out. You feel. You imagine. You walk not just in your own boots, but in the bare feet of those who lived, fought, and died here 2,000 years ago.
And maybe, just maybe, I’m one of their descendants.
🧭 One Down, 407 to Go
As I returned to Peebles, soaked but smiling, I felt the pull of all those other hills waiting quietly in the mist. Four hundred and seven hill forts still to discover.
This isn’t a checklist. It’s a lifelong adventure.
So pack your boots. Bring a flask. And take a walk not just through the Borders—but through time.
