The HUGHS (Hills Under Graham Height in Scotland) are a new category of Scottish hills "with exceptional character." They are hills "with attitude, not altitude". This challenge, eventually in four parts, includes the 50 hills under 2000 ft situated in south and east Scotland on the mainland, as selected by Andrew Dempster for inclusion in his guidebook ‘The HUGHS’ Volume 1: The Mainland’. See book details at https://luath.co.uk/products/the-hughs. Maintained on peakery by member Mark Trengove.
Highest peak
The Coyles of Muick
1,966 ft / 599 m
Most prominent peak
Criffel
1,597 ft / 486 m prom
Most climbed peak
Arthur's Seat
85 climbs
Most difficult peak
no info yet
Difficulty breakdown
no info yet
Highlights
Latest climbs
"Started at Formonthills car park, headed up to Rhind Hill Trig Point S3160 and then made my own route for East Lomond Hill whilst hitting the Trig Point S3163, followed by a return journey." — R-Herb • Aug 15, 2025
"Also called Craig Lea. From Wee Hill of Craigmulloch a faint path takes you down in a beeline for summit of this. This walk feels tougher than it looks on paper. Ascend slightly to the left over several steep rises, with a faint trail to work with. It flattens out towards the top and comes into view when you reach the first cairn. Trig point and great views, including our campsite. Decided to descend back to midway between this and the Wee Hill but avoid ascending the latter again and cut through down along stream. Very boggy and not recommended, but there was some sort of track with solid ground beneath actually closest to the stream itself. Saying that, I would avoid this as a route to ascend.
Beautiful clear sunny almost windless day, but felt hard going all the same. Good view of Merrick and all round." — vygodski • Apr 8, 2025
"I headed up for sunrise and so glad I did - it was spectacular! There is a large car park at the bottom then you cross the road and it is signposted from there. The path is really well marked which was handy with only a head torch. As the light lifted the scenery was lovely. The incline is steep but nothing too strenuous - I was put to shame by one person running up when I was coming down.
At the top there are a couple of wee monuments and there is a panoramic view of the some and lands. Overall I really enjoyed the hike and coming down I could see lots of wee streams of missed in the dark." — LorrsHikes • Mar 24, 2025
"My second walk up this hill in a month. This time we brought the family. Kids aged 3-16 (6 fo them) all really enjoyed this and loved the views from the top. We set off just after 9.30 and it was very busy on the way back down." — michellemorrison • Aug 3, 2024
"The walk was amazing. The first part, from the Bunnet Stane and Maiden's Bower to the peak was very steep. But it was done pretty quickly. The second part was all downhill towards Glen Vale Falls and John Knox's Pulpit all very colourful and mesmerising. It was a sunny day, so all my pictures are top notch. " — iulianacosmina • Oct 13, 2023
