I ventured into the land of the dwarves for a walk around the hills of Simonside. Rocks, trees and moorland galore!
Distance: 7.5 miles (round trip)
Time: 3 ½ hours
Starting from the Lordenshaws car park to the south of Rothbury, I initially set off in the wrong direction – quite intentionally, I’d like to add! With the Simonside hills to my rear, I headed along St Oswald’s Way for a short distance until I reached a fork in the path. Off to the left was a large stone with fine examples of prehistoric rock art while to the right was Lordenshaws hill fort, both of which offered fine views across to Rothbury.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideRockArt.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideLordenshaws.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
Returning to the car park I headed to the right down the road leading to back to Rothbury. After crossing a cattle grid, I left the road at a large sign for Simonside and followed the green arrowed Forestry Commission trail into the woods. This soon met a red arrowed trail that crossed a parking area and proceeded to climb steadily uphill along a wide and well-surfaced trail.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideSign.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
After a while, I reached a deforested area with views up to the hills on my left. I immediately turned in here, passing between two rocks and onto a narrow, overgrown path. This led to Little Church Rock – not in fact a Christian rock group, but a large rocky outcrop that may have been used for religious purposes several thousand years ago. A quick scramble led to the top where I sat and gazed out over the woodland below me.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideLittleChurchRockPath.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideLittleChurchRock1.jpg?resize=525%2C700)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideLittleChurchRock.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideLittleChurchRockView.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
Heading back to the main path, I continued along until the red arrows headed on to a sandy, stony path that passed through the heather and bracken. Red arrows pointed to the left, but I continued straight on until the path levelled out. At this point, with Simonside in view, I made a detour to the right. Continuing across a trail once the path came to an end, I passed through a gate and aimed towards a cairn.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideRavensHeughCairn.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
Heading to the right and across the heather, a sheer drop suddenly appeared before me at Ravens Heugh. From here, I could see right across the Coquet valley towards the Cheviots. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the views – the site is popular with climbers, and there were several ropes hanging down over the edge.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideRavensHeugh.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
I returned to the path and headed towards Simonside itself. Rejoining the red arrowed route, I climbed the stone steps to the top of the hill with its large cairn. These hills are supposedly inhabited by the Duergar, a race of malevolent dwarves who appear at night to lead unsuspecting travellers to their deaths. Luckily for me the sun was still high in the sky!
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideHills.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideSteps.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
The path here is clearly marked by large flagstones, so it was just a matter of following them across Old Stell Crag and then Dove Crag. When the red arrowed route started to head downhill after Dove Crag, I followed the yellow arrows across the ridge to the final top of The Beacon. As the name implies, this was a spot where beacons would be lit to warn of invasions from marauding Scots. Evidently nobody had noticed my arrival, then.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideOldStellCrag.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideFlagstones.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
![](https://i0.wp.com/ramblingscot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SimonsideWaymarkers.jpg?resize=525%2C394)
From The Beacon, I followed the path until it met St Oswald’s Way once more and then arrived back at the car park at Lordenshaws.