I expect you have noticed the posts with little diagonal red and silver markers on them on Corstorphine Hill and may have wondered what they are for. They are the Controls, twenty-one in total, for a Permanent Orienteering Course which has been set up on the Hill by the Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club, in co-operation with the City of Edinburgh Council Natural Heritage Service.

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Orienteering is about finding your way around using a specially prepared large-scale and very detailed map to navigate between the Controls. The easiest courses follow paths most of the way and the hardest ones take you across open land or through the woods and require careful map-reading and compass work. The terrain of Corstorphine Hill is ideally suited for this activity and orienteering events using temporary controls are held on the Hill about once a year.

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Now, people can use the Permanent Course Map Pack at any time for training runs, practising technique or just adding extra interest to a walk. The courses on the Hill start from the Clermiston Road North car park and from Cairnmuir Road. Similar courses have also been set up at Cammo Estate and on Blackford Hill.

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You can obtain the Map Packs for all three areas from the Visitor Centres at Cammo, and at the Hermitage of Braid.