Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat is the eroded core of a volcano active around three hundred and forty million years ago, standing 251 metres above the city inside Holyrood Park, so a serious hill walk starts a few minutes from the Royal Mile. The Salisbury Crags below it are a dolerite sill whose exposed edge was where James Hutton, in the 1780s, found the contact between intruded rock and sediment that supported his argument for deep geological time, one of the founding observations of modern geology. In 1836 five boys hunting rabbits found seventeen small wooden coffins in a niche on the northeast slope, each containing a carved figure in stitched clothing; eight survive in the National Museum, and no explanation of them has ever been established.

What's there

• The volcanic core - a 251-metre summit inside the city boundary.
• Hutton's Section - the rock contact that helped establish deep time.
• The coffin site - the northeast slope where seventeen miniature coffins were found.
• The summit view - the whole city, the Forth and Fife beyond.

When to go

Year-round; the hill is open at all hours and free. Sunrise and sunset are the popular times and the summit gets crowded. Wind is strong and the paths are slippery in wet weather.

Practical notes

This is a real hill climb with steep, eroded and rocky sections, not a park stroll. The summit is exposed and windy. Radical Road under Salisbury Crags has been closed for years because of rockfall.

Nearby

Holyroodhouse is at the foot of the park; the Royal Mile runs up to the castle.

Key facts