The second half of our week in Galloway was slightly more sedate than the first half, spent dodging showers and trying to keep cool in some pretty humid weather (although thankfully nowhere near the temperatures we’d seen at the start of the week). Unfortunately we didn’t get the weather to do more hills (not being ones to particularly enjoy trudging through a cloud), but Galloway has a great selection of lower level walks to tackle, so we weren’t sat in our cottage twiddling our thumbs!
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Galloway Forest Park – Kirroughtree
Having stopped off at Kirroughtree Visitor Centre earlier in the week for breakfast and a quick walk, we both said we’d like to come back later in the week to do one of the longer trails (there are four to choose from). Kirroughtree is one of two main visitor centres in Galloway Forest Park, with the other being located in Glentrool. It’s a great place to spot a variety of birds as well as red squirrels and more elusive creatures like otters and water voles.
Thursday dawned dry but muggy, and we thought a shady walk would be perfect for helping the dogs feel a bit more comfortable on the walk. We opted for the Larg Hill trail, a circular route of about 4.5 miles, which circumnavigates a hill rather than going up and down it. We saw a fair few people around the visitor centre but once we left behind the other trails, we didn’t see another soul.
As you’d expect from a woodland trail, the walk is entirely in woodland, well way marked with white posts all the way around. There’s a section with a nice view towards Newton Stewart and then across to the Galloway hills, but nothing show stopping in terms of views: this is a walk for if you want a peaceful wander through the trees.
We didn’t hang around to enjoy the views on the bench provided as in the time it took to snap a few photos we were both bitten by a horsefly. They weren’t bad at all as we walked, they just seemed to appear when we stopped. The route is by no means flat but the gradients aren’t strenuous, and most people should be able to get around without breaking too much of a sweat. The walk finishes off by passing Little Bruntis Loch, where we would’ve let the dogs in for a swim if there wasn’t a dog walker already there doing the same!
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This is an excellent dog walk, stile free, and with opportunities for dogs to have a swim in the loch and in a couple of streams. The trees provide plenty of shelter from the sun on a warm day. Just be mindful of a short section on a forest road and of other users of the forest (we unfortunately got mobbed by two off lead dogs with zero recall at the start of our walk).
Dundrennan Abbey
We finished our walk at Kirroughtree a bit faster than we expected, with it taking us about 2.5 hours rather than the 3 the information board suggested. Rather than going straight back to the cottage, we drove across to explore the ruins of Dundrennan Abbey, not quite ready to call it a day.
Today only ruins remain at Dundrennan, but it was once a thriving Cistercian monastery. Most notably, it was the place where Mary, Queen of Scots, spent her last night on Scottish soil before fleeing across the border into England. Visitors are welcome to wander the ruins of the abbey, where you’ll find a few information boards dotted around the site. Entry is charged for but happily we could visit for free now that we’re in our second year of English Heritage membership.
We spent about half an hour wandering through the ruins, which we mostly had to ourselves until a small group arrived as we were about to leave. There’s not too much left to explore, but there are some interesting stone effigies as well as a shed where you can get a closer look at some carved stones (if you’re into that kind of thing).
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. Dogs on leads are welcome to join you throughout the site, and there was a water bowl for dogs by the ticket office too. Dundrennan was great for us as the owners of a reactive dog, as we knew that any other dogs would have to be on a lead.
Kippford & Rockliffe
Friday saw us driving north into Ayrshire for the day (more to follow in a future blog), and then sadly on Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to our cottage. It really was one of the best cottages we’ve stayed in – more to follow later on in this post.
I was determined to squeeze in one last walk before heading home, and consulting our route I noticed that the coastal town of Kippford wasn’t too far off the route. I’d never heard of the Colvend Coast before but our Pocket Mountains guide had a 16km circular route navigating around it: unfortunately we didn’t have time to do the full thing, so I picked a shorter alternative route of 5.5km from Walkhighlands.
There’s a small car park on the road into Kippford where you can park for a donation. The route starts out by walking along the shoreline for a fair way, which was surprisingly busy considering rain was forecast to start imminently. The shore is very picturesque, with lots of fishing boats moored up and the beach being made entirely of seashells. Adding to the overall pleasant vibe, the gardens in Kippford were consistently lovely, with so many bright colours bursting at the seams of their boundaries.
I was sad to turn away from the shore, however the walk immediately became much quieter at this point, which was nice. From this point the route makes use of trails dipping in and out of woodland (mainly in), detouring a few times to viewpoints at Mark’s Hill and the Muckle. Mark’s Hill is also known as the Mote of Mark and is a small hillfort which was occupied in the 6th century. Both Mark’s Hill and the Muckle had good views over the coast, even on a grey day: I suspect they would tip over into fab views on a sunny day. The heather was starting to pop out too which always makes me happy!
I was glad I’d dragged myself up both viewpoints, even if we’d been running the flat bits and the short but steep incline nearly finished me off. While I’m not usually a runner, the rain was forecast to start at 10 and we’d set off at 5 past 10 – I was determined to get around as quickly as possible in the hopes of staying dry. We just about made it: it started spitting as we were coming back down the Muckle, and only started to properly pour down when we got back to the car park. We even had time to stop for an ice cream from The Ark.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This stile free walk has the opportunity for dogs to have a dip in the sea at the start, as well as ample chances for off lead time in the woodland sections (just be careful of adders, which are plentiful along the Galloway coast, in the warmer months).
Where we didn’t get to…
This is something I’ve not featured in blogs before, but I feel like it’s impossible to squeeze all the great places you could visit in an area, into a single week. Where we end up going is largely dictated by the weather and how tired we are from the day before, and while the following places were on my list, we sadly just ran out of time before we got there. If you’re using this blog to plan a trip to Galloway, I’d definitely recommend having a look at these places too!
• The Mull of Galloway: Scotland’s most southerly point with a photogenic lighthouse and coastal views best enjoyed from the outdoor seating at Gallie Craig coffee house.
• Glenwhan Gardens: we love a sub-tropical garden and Galloway has a few to choose from. Glenwhan welcomes dogs on leads and has great reviews on TripAdvisor.
• Sandyhills Beach: a sheltered, sandy beach which has plenty of space at low tide and welcomes dogs all year round.
• Benniguinea: I always think small hills have the best views (after all, you can’t see the big hill if you’re standing on it).
• Corserine and the Rhinns of Galloway: we seriously debated doing this walk instead of The Merrick, but the extra distance and a longer drive from our cottage tipped the scales in The Merrick’s favour. We would’ve done this walk if we’d had another hill day.
• St Ninian’s Cave: one of Galloway’s most famous landmarks, unfortunately the cave was closed for conservation work during our visit.
• Powillimount Beach: a dog friendly beach with impressive rock formations.
Where we stayed
We booked a stay at Strathmaddie Farm Cottage through cottages.com and we both agreed it’s one of the nicest cottages we’ve stayed in. Not overly fancy but nicely finished, the inside is spacious and well equipped with everything you could possibly need (I think you can always tell when the owners of the cottage use it themselves). The cottage sleeps 4 in a double and a twin.
The main reason I chose this cottage was the garden – or should I say gardens plural. There is an enormous, securely enclosed front garden which the dogs absolutely loved zooming around in, and then a smaller (again securely enclosed) back garden, both of which had outdoor seating for us to enjoy the sunshine. We even ate outside for a few nights: it felt like we were in Greece rather than Scotland!
Strathmaddie Farm Cottage is in an excellent location: properly rural (which we love) but close enough to Newton Stewart (10 minute drive) to be able to take advantage of amenities like supermarkets and takeaways. Thanks to the cottage’s fab location, you can walk from the door without needing to get in the car: Sam went for a run up Cairnsmore of Fleet on our first full day (I stayed at home with the dogs as it was far too hot for them). Most of Galloway is in easy reach less than an hour’s drive away.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. Despite the spaciousness of the cottage, we still managed to smash a glass (coffee tables are just the wrong height for waggy tails), and the care taker was very lovely about it. The gardens are excellent – we used the big one for playtime and the small one for bedtime wees (the big one was just tooo exciting with too many sniffs, and it took ages out there!). They were both spaniel proof too, which is a rarity. There’s no neighbouring garden which is always a bonus with Coal’s reactivity (although we did have deer in the field next door a few times).
The cottage is tiled throughout so no need to worry about dirty carpets, and (and I appreciate this is very specific) had a kitchen with doors that separated it from the living room. This is a big thing for us as Merry likes to try and dig through sofa cushions when he’s unsupervised, so if the dogs are sleeping in a living room area we have to have a half an hour reshuffle of the furniture to barricade any seating before we go to bed. So a kitchen which can be closed off is excellent!
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