Mountbenger Law

Rising above the Yarrow Valley, this grassy dome offers a classic Southern Upland experience. It is often climbed alongside its neighbour, Deer Law, providing expansive views over St Mary’s Loch and the surrounding Manor Hills. Expect quiet, trackless slopes and a sense of solitude away from the busier Borders summits.

• •The name derives from the nearby farm of Mountbenger; 'Law' is the common Scots term for a prominent, often conical, hill.
• •The hill sits on land once farmed by the 'Ettrick Shepherd,' the poet and novelist James Hogg, who struggled to make a financial success of the Mountbenger farmstead in the 1820s.
• •From the summit, the view south-west is dominated by the long, shimmering silver of St Mary’s Loch, with the higher, craggier profiles of the Moffat Hills rising beyond.
• •It is frequently bagged as part of a circular walk starting from the Tibbie Shiels Inn or Cappercleuch, usually paired with the neighbouring Deer Law.
• •On a hill this quiet, the most significant topographical challenge is often navigating the complex network of sheep tracks, which seem designed specifically to lead walkers anywhere but the actual summit.