Sitting only a few miles from Edinburgh’s hustle and bustle is the peaceful, picturesque setting of Roslin Glen. Less than a century ago the glen was the site of heavy industry, including bleaching and gunpowder mills, but today it contains only a few relics of its manufacturing past. As well as these industrial remains, this picturesque walk also passes the stunning, gothic Rosslyn Chapel – built in the 15th century and made famous the world over by Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Tourists aside, present-day Roslin Glen is a beautiful, peaceful woodland gorge cut in two by the gorgeous River North Esk. Beech, oak and sycamore trees provide an incredible canopy of colours during autumn and a broad selection of wildflowers – such as wood anemone, wood sorrel and wild garlic – flourish during spring and summer. Wildlife is also plentiful throughout the walk: look out for red squirrel, dipper and kingfisher, in particular.
[1] From Roslin Glen car park , turn right onto the B7003 and follow the pavement to the entrance gate of Roslin Glen (NT268627). Go through the gate onto a broad track, which travels through fine woodland above the River North Esk. Pass by several remains of the glen’s old mills and continue until the track eventually drops down to cross over a stone bridge beside one of the old gunpowder mills. Cross over a second bridge (NT266621), where a path passes by a weir, and then climb two flights of steep steps to go through a gate. Another flight of steps then descends to gain a cycle track (NT267619).
[2] Turn left, walk northeast along the track (which is part of the old Peebles-to-Edinburgh railway line) enveloped by more delightful woodland, on the approach to the village of Rosewell. The woodland gives way to lovely countryside and there are some superb views of the high rolling Pentland Hills. Keep on the track as it bears right to reach the A6094 (NT285629).
[3] Cross the road and then turn left, following a track over Gorton Road and continuing by the outskirts of Rosewell and alongside the A6094. Just after a cemetery, bear left from the main track at a ‘Tyne Esk Trail’ signpost (NT290633) and carefully re-cross the A6094, before turning left into a road signposted for Polton. Follow the pavement past Hawthornden Lodge to arrive at a minor road on the left signposted for Polton Village (NT292642).
[4] Turn to walk along the minor road and, just before a gate, bear right onto a narrow path. Follow this as it descends past Springfield Mill into Polton. Turn left, cross a bridge over the River North Esk and then continue for a few metres to a gate on the left signposted for ‘Roslin’ (NT288649).
[5] Once through the gate, a well-maintained woodland path climbs steeply up two flights of steps then soon turns left onto a spectacular path, where steep slopes drop away on both sides. The path undulates its way through the woodland and then along a track. After passing underneath a bridge, go through another gate onto a single-track road and follow this past the impressive Mountmarle monument and onto Manse Road.
(A) Mountmarle monument commemorates the Battle of Roslin in 1303.
Walk along a pavement into the pretty village of Roslin at Penicuik Road. Turn left here onto Chapel Loan. (NT273633)
[6] Descend Chapel Loan by Rosslyn Chapel, (open daily, except 24,25 and 31 December and 1 January), then turn right and follow a lane down to a cemetery. Bear left onto a path and follow this to a fork. Turn right (a path straight ahead here leads to Roslin Castle, which has a very interesting history) and drop down some steps and back into woodland (NT275628). A bridge then crosses the River North Esk to a fork. Turn right, then right again at the next fork and walk along the path back to the car park.