Walking
and Hiking in Dumfries and Galloway is
many and varied. This is the forgotten corner of
Scotland, so you can enjoy peaceful walks at any
level of difficulty. There are wonderful and easy
walks that are just a single mile, lots can take
wheelchairs. There is a walk in Laurieston that is
very simple and is pure magic. We have so many walks
that I will try to give just a taste of them here.
The image on the right is a view from a walk called
the Jubilee Path that takes you from Rockcliffe to
Kippford, just 2 miles and you can get a fantastic
pub lunch too |
 |
| The
Old Exchange is located on the Castle
Path. This is a walk created by The National Trust
for Scotland between Threave Gardens and Threave Castle
It is probably about 2 miles between them so The Old
Exchange is a great starting point. When I lived here
I took the 4 mile option on most mornings before going
to work and I love it dearly. It gets better and better
as the years go by. Recently it was extended to enable
a direct walk from Castle Douglas which actually means
that you can walk from The Old Exchange into Castle
Douglas on this walk, and it is very good. |
 |
| Castle
Douglas. We have a wonderful walk around
the Loch in Castle Douglas. Lovers walk has been improved
(along with all the local walks) It takes about 1.5
hours to walk all the way round. However it also passes
by the entrance to Threave Gardens, so it makes a great
walk to the gardens and then back to town. My partner
and I take this walk some mornings at about 6.30 a.m.
before we go to work, we take it all year and it wakens
our senses and our bleary eyes in a different way each
day. I hope you take this walk when you visit here. |
 |
| There
is a walk at Balcary Bay,
which is very popular because of its dramatic scenery
and the coastal birds and the shore fishing. There is
a precipitous walk around Balcary Point (not best done
with very young children - I know by experience) There
are views across to Cumbria and closer to Hestan Island
which was the location of a novel written by local writer
S.R.Crocket called The Raiders. (we have a copy for you
to read whilst you are here) It was about Smugglers and
briggands. This is a smugglers paradise as you can visit
many caves that are dotted every few hundred yards around
this magnificent coastline. |
 |
| Newton
Stewart Holds a WALK-FEST for
keen walkers. This happens in mid
May. WalkFest provides our visitors with a much wider
variety of routes. now a 3 day festival, so there
should be a walk to suit everyone. Make a date in
your diary and join our action packed walking weekend
in the Galloway Hills and surrounding area. You will
soon realise why we call this area Scotland's best
kept secret!. |
 |
| Adventurous
hill walking and climbing. Have a
look at some of these links to other web sites. GALLOWAY
CLIMBING is a page run by Stephen Reid with
information on walking, rock and ice climbing, and
skiing in the Galloway Hills, GALLOWAY MOUNTAIN
RESCUE has a very good site with many suggestions
for challenging walks. John Biggar runs a locally
based company that takes high adventure trips all
around the world, his personal web site covers some
of the local climbing - JOHN BIGGAR |
 |
| Screel is
more challenging, visible from The Old Exchange it is a
good hike to the top. Screel is on the coast overlooking
Auchencairn village and offers fantastic views over the
Solway estuary. There is also a mountain bike ascent. Doach
wood is accross the valley and is a bit easier, both make
a good walk for those of us that need a bit of a challenge. |
 |
There are so many
great walks for all abilities in Dumfries and Galloway,
you could come back year after year and still find more. |
Walking
and hiking in scotland |
