1 April to 30 September Friday to Monday 10am to 4.30pm, closed Tuesdays to Thursdays; closed for lunch 12 noon to 1pm; last entry 4pm; closed 1 October to 31 March. Historic Scotland recommends booking an entry slot in advance to guarantee entry. Notice on 18 October 2026: part of the main path is closed while the area recovers from work carried out earlier in the year, so the walk up is a little more difficult and sturdy shoes are recommended.
The tower is 190 m from the car park along an earth path through a 90 cm kissing gate, very muddy in wet weather with cattle nearby, rising at 1 in 9 over the last 90 m; the site gate is 75 cm wide. The visitor centre has a low, narrow door and a step, with 12 spiral steps to the upper exhibition; the tower's three upper floors are reached by a narrow stone spiral stair of 63 steps with a rope handrail, and doorways are low throughout. No toilets on site; the nearest accessible public toilets are in Horsemarket, Kelso. Audio guide included in the ticket, with large-print versions. No dogs except assistance dogs.
Photo: Smailholm Tower and its barmkin wall on their rocky crag in evening light. Keith Proven, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smailholm_Tower_001.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
