Southern Upland Way

Dumfries & Galloway, Borders, S Lanarkshire

338 km / 210 miles

(click to enlarge)

One of the original four officially designated Long Distance Routes in Scotland, and now one of the family of Scotland's Great Trails, it provides a coast-to-coast traverse of southern Scotland by a varied path through sparsely populated terrain, generally avoiding the high tops. Across the Rhinns of Galloway and into Glen Trool Forest Park, passing below the Merrick (843m) it heads to Sanquhar, then, via the open, heather-clad Lowther Hills, it reaches St Mary's Loch near Broad Law. From here the Way passes through Melrose (where it can be linked with the St Cuthbert's Way), Lauder and over the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills to reach the east coast.

The route's website has extensive supporting information and leaflets for download.

The section between Moffat in South Central Scotland to Cockburnspath on the South East Scottish Coastline is promoted as the Sir Walter Scott Way, almost entirely coincident with the Southern Upland Way. This has been designed as a shorter option to add some additional literary interest to the longer route. Scott took inspiration from this countryside and it was where he spent much of his life.

West from Melrose, where the St Cuthbert's Way joins, the route is part of the E2 E-Route.

The reference in the 2009 Trailwalker Handbook to the route passing over the Merrick top is incorrect.

Details:

Path Type:	Scotland's Great Trails
Waymark:	Thistle within hexagon
Attributes:	Scotland's Great Trails Challenging Coast-to-Coast Moorland Literary
Start:	NX000542 - Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway
Finish:	NT774710 - Cockburnspath, Borders
Open Date:	1984
Web Sites:	Dumfries and Galloway Council - Southern Upland Way Southern Upland Way ibook Walk Highlands - Scotland's Long Distance Walking Routes Scotland's Great Trails Annierak - Southern Upland Way [blog] Rambling Man - Planning your Southern Upland Way Walk Brian's Walks - Southern Upland Way [blog] BBC South Scotland : In pictures: the Southern Upland Way Trailplanner - Southern Upland Way [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - Bargrennan to Portpatrick [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - Bargrennan to St. Johns Town of Dalry [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - St. Johns Town of Dalry to Wanlockhead [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - Wanlockhead to St. Mary's Loch [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - Lauder to St. Marys Loch [blog] Exploring Scottish Trails - Southern Upland Way - Cockburnspath to Lauder [blog] Camino Adventures - Hiking the Southern Upland Way [blog] Undiscovered Scotland - Southern Upland Way

Publications, Badges and Certificates:

Guidebook	Walking the Southern Upland Way : Scotland's coast to coast trail (Cicerone Press - 2018 )
Guidebook	Southern Upland Way & St Cuthbert's Way (Mike Salter - 2007 )
External download	Dumfries and Galloway Council - Southern Upland Way : tree and shrub guide (Dumfries and Galloway Council - 2004 )
External download	Dumfries and Galloway Council - Southern Upland Way : geology guide (Dumfries and Galloway Council - 2000 )
External download	Dumfries and Galloway Council - Southern Upland Way : wildlife guide (Dumfries and Galloway Council - 2005 )
Guidebook	Writing the Way : a collection of journeys along the Southern Upland Way (Southern Uplands Partnership - 2005 )
Certificate	Certificate for National Trails (Long Distance Walkers Association )
Certificate	Certificate for Southern Upland Way (Dumfries and Galloway Council )
General Interest Book	Big walks of the north (Summersdale Publishers - 2010 )
General Interest Book	Big walks of Great Britain (Summersdale Publishers - 2007 )
Guidebook	The National Trails : 19 long-distance routes through England, Scotland and Wales (Cicerone Press - 2015 )
External download	Dumfries and Galloway Council - Southern Upland Way : the killing times (Dumfries and Galloway Council )
External download	Southern Upland Way : an underused resource for southern Scotland? Executive summary, recommendations & conclusions (Southern Uplands Partnership - February 2005 )

Click to showhide 9 more Publications, Badges and Certificates

Maps:

You can use the interactive controls to zoom in and out and to move around the map, or click on a path or a marker for more info.(interactive map help)

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2016.
© OpenStreetMap contributors under Open Database Licence.
Rights of way data from selected Local Authorities.
Large scale digital mapping is provided by John Thorn.
At high zoom levels the route is indicative only.

**Purchase Ordnance Survey Maps (path is named on OS maps):**

OS Landranger	67, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82
OS Landranger Active	67, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82
OS Explorer	309, 310, 317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 328, 329, 330, 337, 338, 345, 346, 351
OS Explorer Active	309, 310, 317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 328, 329, 330, 337, 338, 345, 346, 351