The Cross Borders Drove is a rambling trail that follows the paths of old drovers as they transported their cattle from the Pentland Hills, to the market at Hawick. Classed as one of Scotland's Great Trails, it sees suprisingly little traffic, but don't let this put you off. The 52 mile journey takes you through towns, woodland, hills and farms, a bit of everything! It is perfect for taking your time over a few days and enjoying the changing scenery, but also makes a great challenge if you choose to take it on a bit faster. The route is signposted, however maps are compulsory as at times the signs are sparse.
Detailed description
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Difficulty: DifficultDistance: 54.37 miles (87.50 km)
Total ascent: 1,405m
Time: 26 hours (Walking)
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Additional Information
Start Little Vantage, Pentland Hills, NT101629; Finish Hawick, NT480153
Terrain:
Farm Tracks, Mountain Paths, Roads and Forest track are all commonplace along the route.
Seasonal variations:
The walk should be completely doable at any time of the year, however some parts will become quite muddy after lots of rain, and snow might make going tricky on the higher hills.
Weather and Hill Conditions: mwis: Southern Uplands
Public transport:
There is no public transport to Little Vantage, so a friend to drop you off or a taxi will be need - unless you cut the route to West Linton, in which case buses run from Edinburgh.
Maps:
OS Explorer 330 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 331 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 336 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 337 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 338 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 344 (1:25,000), OS Explorer 345 (1:25,000), OS Landranger 73 (1:50,000), OS Landranger 66 (1:50,000), OS Landranger 65 (1:50,000), OS Landranger 78 (1:50,000), OS Landranger 79 (1:50,000), OS Landranger 72 (1:50,000)
Accommodation:
Camping is one of the best ways to do this; as the drovers once would have done, however there are also sufficient towns to stay in. Be aware if you limit yourself to this, thyat long days are necessary.
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Nearest town:
Edinburgh, Livingston, Peebles, Selkirk, Hawick
Tourist info:
Edinburgh Airport (0844 481 8989); Edinburgh Airport (0844 481 8989); Linlithgow (01506 775 320)
Looks like an interesting project. Given the name, is there a continuation beyond Hawick which goes over the border?
A Hawick/Newcastleton/Langholm circular could actually be a very logical, impressive, long distance path.
Driving S from Newcastleton the accommodation gets tricky of course, we used the Crossings inn (maybe an old drovers thing) and a lot of small roads.
Thanks, but I'm not sure from your post - did you walk, cycle or drive your circuit? I've walked a little around Langholm and in the Craik Forest near Hawick but can't claim to know the area well myself.
Walked. The hills are mainly grassy and quite howgillish but far less short cropped, so harder going except when you hit ATV tracks. You'd need to camp somewhere on the way. Hawick to Newcastleton is maybe the more logical of the two for a continuation. Checking Haldane today, the historic drove route used the Presithaugh valley and Swire Knowe to get S. That's a 450m col with easy gradients.
Sadly swallowed by pine trees. So we went up Skelfhill valley and over/down Tudhope hill - only a maniac would have tried to drive cattle down that slope :)
The historic droving routes from there also don't seem useful in the modern day, but there's a modern track based alternative to use into Newcastleton. Swing E a bit to go up Caulker grain and that track should go all the way to Newcastleton via a fine waterfall or two. We tried swinging round over Cooms fell/Tinnis hill instead from the trig but I'd be cautious - much harder going. Then for further S, the old railway helps a bit, yellow roads etc. You could likely get to Longtown from Newcastleton if aiming at Carlisle.
Thanks, that's a lot of useful detail. We used to get out in the Borders quite often, usually on the way to bag Munros or breaks in the Moffat area. Last year we were standing by the big monument (White Hill?) above Langholm looking north and thinking those hills resembled the Howgills.