Scaur Hill

The walk up Scaur Hill from Biggar takes you out of the town proper and into proper Lowland countryside within minutes. It's not a massive undertaking - maybe forty minutes up if you're ambling - but the views across South Lanarkshire open up considerably as you gain height. On a clear day you can see right across the rolling farmland, and the Clyde Valley stretches away to the south.

This is the sort of hill that rewards walkers more than casual strollers. There's nothing twee about it. It's a solid, working landscape rather than a postcard view. Families with older children will get on fine with it; younger kids might find the gentle but relentless gradient a bit tedious. The summit itself is unremarkable - a trig point and some shelter - but that's rather the point. You're coming for the leg-stretch and the air, not for a visitor centre.

The nearest town, Biggar, sits at the foot of the hill, making this a natural extension to a morning wandering round the High Street. If you're based at Mount View Caravan Park just outside town, it's a decent post-breakfast outing before heading elsewhere in the area. Allow a couple of hours return, longer if you want to potter and actually look at things. It's free, obviously. Best tackled in the spring or early autumn when you're not fighting either mud or midges.