Scotland
Ferniehirst Hill
501M
1644FT
About Ferniehirst Hill
Tucked away in the western Moorfoot Hills, this rounded summit offers a quiet, heather-clad escape from busier nearby trails. Rising above the valley of the Leithen Water, it presents a typical Borders landscape of peat and grass, providing a lonely vantage point over the rolling ridges towards the higher summit of Dundreich.
Key Statistics
Rank
363rd Highest in Region
Parent Range
Moorfoot Hills
Prominence
?
22
Nearest Town
Stow
Geology
Ferniehirst Hill sits upon the Gala Group, a foundation of muddy sandstone known as wacke that originally settled on an ancient seafloor.
Classifications
Nearby Fells
Find It
OS Grid Reference
NT425419
Latitude
55.6678°N
Longitude
2.9148°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is derived from the Scots 'fernie', meaning covered in ferns, and the Old English 'hirst', a term for a small hill or wooded eminence, describing its historically scrubby or bracken-clad slopes.
- •It forms part of the sprawling western plateau of the Moorfoot Hills, a range characterised by its rounded, whale-backed profiles and extensive areas of blanket bog and heather moorland.
- •From the 501-metre summit, walkers gain a clear perspective across the valley of the Leithen Water towards the higher mass of Dundreich and the wind turbines of Bowbeat Hill to the north.
- •Being unclassified and lacking a maintained path to its summit, the hill remains an ideal destination for those who prefer the company of startled red grouse to that of other hikers.