Hunterheugh Crag

Grid Ref: NU116169   Aspect: NW   Routes: 1   Problems: 53

Altitude: 140 mtrs   Walk in: 25 mins   Bouldering quality: ***

Turn east at the Glanton/Bolton crossroads on the A697 and go straight on for 4.5 miles to roadside parking at East Bolton farm. Take the footpath over the cattle grid and follow the track round the edge of two fields and at the bottom of the hill go straight on across a bridge over Titlington Burn. Follow the track up to the col where it swings right down towards Kimmer Lough. Go straight up the hill on the left across the rocks to a hurdle on the fence. Trend diagonally right across the heather for a couple of hundred metres, crossing a track, until you drop down onto a flat moss with the crag visible on the left. Follow the edge of this moss to the crag - a path soon appears.

General:

An excellent bouldering crag on the southern end of Beanley Moor. It catches the afternoon sun in summer and is in a superb location on the moor.

Rock:  

Fell Sandstone Carboniferous, Dinantian

Excellent hard clean sandstone. There are some parts with ironstone protuberances which can be unreliable, and there are also a few mineral veins which can be brittle.

Access issues:

The crag is on CROW land

Routes/Bouldering:  

No recorded routes.

Problems:

Excellent problems on clean, hard rock. The landings are pretty good. There is no thuggy roof climbing here and the problems consist of quality low grade stuff and even better quality mid grade problems.

Other interesting stuff:

A few hundred metres farther around the escarpment are some important cup and ring markings.

History:

The crag seems to have escaped the attentions of locals until 2011 - 2013 when John Dalrymple and Bob Smith had the pleasure of their own private crag for over a year.