Southern Upland Way: Section-by-Section Planning Guide

Quick Summary

• 214 miles coast to coast from Portpatrick (Galloway) to Cockburnspath (Berwickshire) through the Southern Uplands — Scotland's quietest long-distance trail
• Most walkers take 12-16 days at 14-18 miles per day, though section-walking over multiple weekends is increasingly popular
• Accommodation exists every 12-20 miles — a mix of B&Bs, hostels and bothies, with wild camping legal throughout under the Access Code
• Compare it with other trails — our Route Compare tool shows the Southern Upland Way alongside the WHW, Cape Wrath Trail and five other Scottish trails

Nobody walks the Southern Upland Way. That is both its problem and its point. The West Highland Way gets 36,000 completions a year. The Southern Upland Way gets around 1,500. It is longer, harder to reach, less scenic in the Instagram sense, and it crosses country that most Scottish walkers have never visited. It is also completely empty, surprisingly wild for the Lowlands, and one of the few British long-distance trails where you can walk for an entire day without seeing another person.

Quick Answer: The Southern Upland Way is a 214-mile (344km) coast-to-coast route crossing southern Scotland from Portpatrick on the Irish Sea to Cockburnspath on the North Sea. It is waymarked throughout with the thistle marker and follows a mix of hill paths, forest tracks and old drove roads through the Galloway Hills, Lowther Hills, Moffat Hills and the Borders. Most walkers take 12-16 days. Accommodation is available every 12-20 miles. The terrain is rolling grass and heather with cumulative ascent around 7,500m — not technically difficult but physically demanding over the full distance.

The stages

The trail splits naturally into 12 stages based on accommodation. West to east is the traditional direction — prevailing wind at your back.

Total: 214 miles, ~7,500m cumulative ascent.

What makes it different

Three things set the SUW apart from every other Scottish long-distance trail:

1. Nobody is on it. This is not marketing. On most days in most sections, you will see zero other walkers. The WHW has crowds. The SUW has emptiness. If your reason for walking long distances is solitude, this is your trail.

2. It is genuinely hard to navigate in places. The waymarking is good but not infallible — forest felling regularly destroys sections of path and the replacement is sometimes a diversion through ankle-deep mud and brashings. Carry the Harvey map and a compass.

3. The terrain is relentless rather than dramatic. There are no big mountain passes, no scrambles, no technical ground. Instead there are 214 miles of rolling grass, heather, peat bog, commercial forestry and fence lines. The difficulty is cumulative — not any single day but fourteen of them in a row.

Accommodation and resupply

Unlike the WHW, you cannot rely on finding a B&B every 10 miles. The infrastructure is thinner:

• Portpatrick, Stranraer, Sanquhar, Moffat (2 miles off route), Melrose — proper towns with multiple B&Bs, shops, pubs
• New Luce, Bargrennan, Dalry, Wanlockhead, Beattock, Traquair, Lauder — small villages with 1-2 B&Bs and a basic shop (check opening hours)
• St Mary's Loch — the Tibbie Shiels Inn and a sailing club with a café. No shop.
• Cockburnspath — end point. One pub, limited accommodation. Bus to Dunbar for a train home.

Wild camping is legal throughout under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. The Galloway and Borders sections have excellent wild camping — flat grass beside burns, shelter from wind in valleys, and nobody around. Carry a stove and 2-3 days of food between resupply points.

Bothies: Chalk Brae bothy near Bargrennan and Brattleburn bothy in the Lowther Hills are on or very near the route. Basic shelter — sleeping platform, no facilities. See our bothies guide.

When to walk

Best: May-June (long days, dry spells, empty trail) or September (golden light, no midges, cool walking).

Workable: April (cold but dry) and October (short days, autumn colour).

Avoid: November-March (short days, boggy, cold, some accommodation closes for winter) and July-August (midges in Galloway sections, warmest but also wettest).

The SUW is significantly drier than the WHW or CWT — the Southern Uplands sit in the rain shadow of the western Highlands. But when it rains here, the peat bog sections become a swamp.

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Logistics

Getting to the start: Portpatrick has no railway station. The closest is Stranraer (8 miles, Stage 1 covers this). ScotRail from Glasgow to Stranraer takes 2h 15min.

Getting home from the finish: Cockburnspath has a bus to Dunbar (15 minutes), then ScotRail to Edinburgh Waverley (30 minutes).

Baggage transfer: Several operators run baggage transfer on the SUW, moving your bag between accommodation each day so you walk with a daypack. Travel-Lite and SUW Baggage Transfer are the main operators. Costs £8-15 per bag per day.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is the Southern Upland Way?

Physically demanding but not technically difficult. There are no scrambles, no exposed ridges and no river crossings. The difficulty is distance (214 miles), cumulative ascent (7,500m) and terrain — long sections of bog, heather and rough forest track that are tiring rather than dangerous. Any fit walker who can manage 15-20 mile days on rough ground for two weeks can complete it.

Can I section-walk the Southern Upland Way?

Yes, and it is increasingly popular. The trail crosses several roads and railway lines, making it possible to walk 2-3 day sections over weekends. The Moffat Hills section (Beattock to St Mary's Loch) is the best single stage for a weekend trip. Stranraer and Melrose have good rail connections for section starts and finishes.

Is the Southern Upland Way waymarked?

Yes — thistle markers throughout. The waymarking is generally reliable but forest felling operations can destroy sections and diversions through felled forest are sometimes poorly signed. Carry the Harvey Southern Upland Way map (one waterproof sheet covers the whole route) and a compass.

How does the Southern Upland Way compare to the West Highland Way?

The SUW is 118 miles longer, significantly quieter (1,500 vs 36,000 completions per year), less dramatically scenic, and has thinner accommodation infrastructure. The WHW is better for beginners and social walkers. The SUW is better for experienced walkers who want solitude and a genuine coast-to-coast challenge.

What map do I need for the Southern Upland Way?

The Harvey Southern Upland Way map (1:40,000) covers the entire route on one waterproof sheet — it is the essential purchase. For more detail, OS Landranger maps 76, 77, 78, 71, 72, 73 cover the route.

Related Articles

• West Highland Way Planning Guide — the trail most people walk before the SUW
• Cape Wrath Trail Planning Guide — the harder, wilder alternative
• Scottish Bothies for Beginners — free shelters on the route
• Wild Camping in Scotland: Access Code Guide — your rights on the trail
• OutdoorSCOT Route Compare — side-by-side trail comparison
• Donald Hills — All 89 Mapped — you walk through Donald country on the central sections

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional instruction or safety guidance. Long-distance trail conditions change with weather and forestry operations. Always check current conditions and accommodation availability before setting out. Carry appropriate navigation tools and emergency equipment. OutdoorSCOT is not liable for any incidents arising from the use of this information.

Sources

• Scotland's Great Trails — Southern Upland Way — NatureScot
• Scottish Outdoor Access Code — NatureScot
• Harvey Maps — Southern Upland Way — Harvey Maps
• Mountain Weather Information Service — MWIS
• Ordnance Survey Maps — Ordnance Survey