Holyrood Park

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Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland. It is regarded as a microcosm of Scottish scenery, with a stunning array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of whin packed into its landscape. The park includes Holyrood Palace, Arthur's Seat, the Salisbury Crags, St Margaret's Loch, Dunsapie Loch, Duddingston Loch, St Margaret's Well, St Antony's Well, Queens Drive and St Anthony's Chapel. It was also called King's Park and now Queen's Park.

The main route through the Park is closed on Sundays to motor vehicles.^[1]

1 Salisbury Crags
2 Arthur's Seat
3 Samson's Ribs
4 Other geographical features
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Salisbury Crags

The Salisbury Crags, seen from Edinburgh University's Pollock Halls

The Salisbury Crags are a series of 150 foot cliffs at the top of a subsidiary spur of Arthurs Seat which rise in the middle of Holyrood Park. Below the foot of the cliffs is a large and steep talus slope falling to the floor of Holyrood Park with a track known as the Radical Road running in the space between the two. This track was given its name after it was paved in the aftermath of the Radical War of 1820, using the labour of unemployed weavers from the west of Scotland at the suggestion of Walter Scott.^[2]

The cliffs are formed from steep dolerite and columnar basalt and have a long history of rock climbing on their faces starting from the earliest days of the sport and leading to a number of traditional climbing and sport climbing routes being recorded. In recent years the Park Police (previously under the auspices of the Royal Estate and now Historic Scotland, who have taken over management of the park) have attempted to regulate access to the cliffs for climbing. One now needs to apply for a permit, free of charge, at the education centre to the east of the park in order to be allowed to climb. There is still some activity, though most of it is bouldering rather than free climbing. The finest areas are in the two quarries, although it is only in the south quarry that climbing is still permitted at this time. The South Quarry contains the Black Wall, a well known bouldering testpiece in the Edinburgh climbing scene. On a somewhat less cheerful note, the Crags are a popular suicide spot.

[edit] Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat on a partly-cloudy summer evening

Main article: Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of the castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 metres, provides excellent views, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest and simplest ascent is from the East, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch, a small artificial loch located between Dunsapie Hill and Arthur's Seat. The loch is fed with water from Alnwickhill in the south of the city, and is a popular location within the park, supporting plentiful numbers of bird species.