Fern Hill

The walk up Fern Hill rewards you with views that stretch across Dumfries and Galloway in every direction - moorland rolling away to the horizon, forests in patches below, and on a clear day you can pick out the distant hills proper. It's not high by Scottish standards, but the climb is steady and the path through the bracken gets you there in under an hour from Steading.

This is one for walkers who like their exercise without the scrambling. The terrain is straightforward enough that older kids will manage it, though younger ones might find the bracken a bit of a slog. The summit itself is bare and windswept, exactly what you want from a Lowlands peak - exposed, honest, no shelter to speak of.

You'll want to allow a good two hours for the round trip if you're going at a leisurely pace and plan to sit up top for twenty minutes with whatever you've brought in your rucksack. The bracken dies back in autumn, which makes it considerably easier underfoot than summer.

If you're basing yourself at The Outdoor Hotel or Red Squirrel Campsite, both within a couple of miles, Fern Hill fits neatly into a morning or afternoon. Burnside of Ae Glamping is equally close. It's not a destination that requires a full day - treat it as a proper hill walk rather than a hike - but it's the sort of outing that clears your head and reminds you why you came to the Lowlands in the first place.