Southern Uplands
Richards Mountain Pages
The Southern Uplands cover quite a large area (much more than the Lake District), and so far I have visited only a small portion of them.

Lowther Hills
The Lowther Hills (highest point - Green Lowther 732m) are of the rounded grassy type, very similar to the Howgills and the Eastern Fells of the Lake District. There is one big difference though - there be gold in them thar hills. I was told during my stay that there are a few people, that still make a living from searching for gold silver and other valuable minerals in the region. For the amateur geologist, the spoil heaps are a treasure trove. I've found Haematite, Smithsonite, quartz crystals and of course galena.

The villages of Wanlockhead and Leadhills were once quite prosperous from the lead mining that went on there. There is still a marked difference between them and the nearby town of Sanquhar - historically an impoverished royal borough.
Try this walk for a taster of the Lowther Hills.

Tinto
Tinto stands isolated, 200m higher than its nearest neighbour, and far from the main hills of the Southern Uplands. With steep side, it is an instant draw for walkers, and a good place for a view, if only the hillfog would clear!

Pentlands
Touching the Southern suburbs of Edinburgh, these hills stand a short bus ride away from the scottish capital. A fall circuit of these undulating green hills offers a very full day, and quite a challenge to the thighs. If you can't spare the time, there is always a quick ascent of Arthurs Seat - a Northern outlier stranded in the city of Edinburgh - a mountain indeed in need of rescue.

Further North
North of the Southern Uplands, yet not quite in the Highlands, there exists a wealth of little visited hills, assembled into a number of bands and isolated hills. The highest, Ben Cleuch, caps the rolling hills of the Ochils, just North of Stirling. A walk across the Ochils is quite a long day walk. Nearby, there are hills at Fintry, and Falkland; but the most dramatic peaks are those formed of the cores of ancient volcanoes. Arthurs Seat, in the centre of Edinburgh, is the most notable, but on a clear day, you can view across to the East, the lone peak of North Berwick Law, jutting out from a flat landscape.
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