Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill
ENTRY
Free
WHERE
Edinburgh
What it’s like
Free woodland walks, an orienteering course and a pond full of swans and geese below Blackford Hill.
This is a proper stretch-your-legs park rather than a playground, and it's free, which counts for something when you've got a family to entertain on a Saturday. There's an orienteering course if you want to give the walk a bit of purpose for kids who need a job to do, and the woodland paths are easy enough for a mixed-age group without anyone moaning after ten minutes.
Blackford Pond is the bit that sticks. Swans, mallards, geese and coots all hang about, and it's the sort of stop that turns a walk into an actual outing rather than just exercise. If your kids like spotting wildlife more generally, there's birdwatching to be had along the way too.
Old Hermitage House and the Visitor Centre give you somewhere to duck into partway round, and there's history worth a look if anyone's interested: the Ice House, the Doocot, and a walled garden. None of it takes long to see, but it breaks the walk up nicely for smaller legs.
Toilets are open 9am to 4pm daily, though they're shut on 25th and 26th December and 1st and 2nd January, so don't rely on them over those specific days. There's parking on site and an accessible toilet too. Bring wellies if it's been raining, this is proper park ground, not a manicured path.
Facilities
Plan your visit
Does it cost anything?
No, it's free to walk round the park and grounds.
Do we need to book?
No booking needed, you just turn up and walk.
What is there for kids to actually do?
The orienteering course gives them something to aim for, and Blackford Pond with its swans and geese is usually the highlight. Old Hermitage House and the walled garden are worth a stop too.
Are the toilets always open?
They run 9am to 4pm daily, but they're closed on 25th and 26th December and 1st and 2nd January.
Is there parking?
There's parking on site along with an accessible toilet.
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