and exhibition centre. exhibition and and to be competent at reading it. it. reading at competent be to and

the area with you, whenever you go walking in the hills, hills, the in walking go you whenever you, with area the Baronial style in 1888. It is now used as a local art art local a as used now is It 1888. in style Baronial

It is always advisable to take an Ordnance Survey map of of map Survey Ordnance an take to advisable always is It building is the McKechnie Institute, built in Scots Scots in built Institute, McKechnie the is building

or stout shoes, along with waterproofs are recommended. are waterproofs with along shoes, stout or 1789 known as “Stumpy Tower”. Another imposing imposing Another Tower”. “Stumpy as known 1789

Go prepared for muddy ground and wet weather. Boots, Boots, weather. wet and ground muddy for prepared Go

buildings including a townhouse tower built in in built tower townhouse a including buildings

The Girvan – Barr Hill Trail is a linear route. linear a is Trail Hill Barr – Girvan The trips to Ailsa Craig. There are many interesting interesting many are There Craig. Ailsa to trips

car park, at the south end of Girvan. of end south the at park, car a centre of attraction for visitors with sea angling angling sea with visitors for attraction of centre a

Three of the trails start and inish at the Shalloch Park Park Shalloch the at inish and start trails the of Three

Clyde Coast tourist and ishing town. Its harbour is is harbour Its town. ishing and tourist Coast Clyde and follow the footpath back to the town. the to back footpath the follow and

town is well worth a visit. Girvan is a traditional traditional a is Girvan visit. a worth well is town To complete the trail back, turn right at the A714 A714 the at right turn back, trail the complete To

After a rest from this short excursion the local local the excursion short this from rest a After

the largest colonies of gannets in the British Isles. British the in gannets of colonies largest the

to the main road. main the to island, which is now a bird sanctuary and one of of one and sanctuary bird a now is which island,

to the railway line and along the footpath adjacent adjacent footpath the along and line railway the to The remains of a ruined castle can be seen on the the on seen be can castle ruined a of remains The

over which general access rights are exercisable. are rights access general which over

The trail is completed by descending South West West South descending by completed is trail The

Firth of Clyde and silhouetted against the sky. sky. the against silhouetted and Clyde of Firth

road, and access routes leading to the summit of the hill, hill, the of summit the to leading routes access and road,

plug thrusting over a thousand feet from the the from feet thousand a over thrusting plug town of Girvan. of town

Myoch Bridge. Beyond the bridge you may cross the the cross may you bridge the Beyond Bridge. Myoch

The dominant feature is Ailsa Craig. A volcanic volcanic A Craig. Ailsa is feature dominant The Craig, the Isle of Arran, the Firth of Clyde, and the the and Clyde, of Firth the Arran, of Isle the Craig, formed footway at the side of the A77 and across the the across and A77 the of side the at footway formed

there are breathtaking views of the Byne Hill, Ailsa Ailsa Hill, Byne the of views breathtaking are there south of Girvan. You can walk south along the recently recently the along south walk can You Girvan. of south and sheep. and

Trails to Byne Hill start at the Shallochpark car park, just just park, car Shallochpark the at start Hill Byne to Trails

an ancient fort and a good viewpoint. From the top top the From viewpoint. good a and fort ancient an which is still predominantly farmed for hill cattle cattle hill for farmed predominantly still is which

throughout Scotland. throughout

The Dow Hill (pronounce doo) at 518ft is the site of of site the is 518ft at doo) (pronounce Hill Dow The

whaleback summit of Laggan Hill. This is an area area an is This Hill. Laggan of summit whaleback

(Scotland) Act 2003, applies in this area as it does does it as area this in applies 2003, Act (Scotland)

on the track before branching right near the the near right branching before track the on the ravine is a delightful spot where two burns meet. burns two where spot delightful a is ravine the

right of responsible access, under the Land Reform Reform Land the under access, responsible of right

Crossing the drystone dyke the route continues continues route the dyke drystone the Crossing locally known as “Sundown Valley”. At the head of of head the At Valley”. “Sundown as known locally speci ic route to the summit of Byne Hill. However, the the However, Hill. Byne of summit the to route speci ic

Stranraer railway line and goes past a deep ravine ravine deep a past goes and line railway Stranraer Due to landownership issues, we cannot promote a a promote cannot we issues, landownership to Due have been lost in mud at the bottom. the at mud in lost been have

En route a good track climbs over the Ayr to to Ayr the over climbs track good a route En landing at, and capture of, the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. 1795. in Hope Good of Cape the of, capture and at, landing seen on the surface of the Loch. He was reputed to to reputed was He Loch. the of surface the on seen

who served in H.M. Forces in India. He also took part in the the in part took also He India. in Forces H.M. in served who

outline of a ploughman complete with yoke can be be can yoke with complete ploughman a of outline which brings rich rewards. rich brings which

This was erected in memory of Major A.C.B. Craufuird Craufuird A.C.B. Major of memory in erected was This

perfectly circular Loch. Legend has it that the the that it has Legend Loch. circular perfectly favourite is just one reason to complete a trail trail a complete to reason one just is favourite

situated in a prominent position above Ardmillan House. House. Ardmillan above position prominent a in situated

A mile further on is Laggan Loch, an almost almost an Loch, Laggan is on further mile A The little energy required to tackle this local local this tackle to required energy little The

Below the ridge of the Byne Hill is a monumental obelisk obelisk monumental a is Hill Byne the of ridge the Below

and the Assel and Stinchar Valleys. Stinchar and Assel the and some clues, regarding this, to be found on the hills. hills. the on found be to this, regarding clues, some

Merrick. The region is steeped in history, and there are are there and history, in steeped is region The Merrick. Hill and of the high road between the Carrick shore shore Carrick the between road high the of and Hill

the distance, are the Galloway Hills, including the the including Hills, Galloway the are distance, the way to Barr. Fine views are aorded of the Byne Byne the of aorded are views Fine Barr. to way

Northern Ireland can be seen on the horizon. Inland, in in Inland, horizon. the on seen be can Ireland Northern

The irst part of the route follows the old right of of right old the follows route the of part irst The

Craig, and Arran. On a clear day the Antrim Hills of of Hills Antrim the day clear a On Arran. and Craig,

Byne Hill, including views of the Firth of Clyde, Ailsa Ailsa Clyde, of Firth the of views including Hill, Byne

There are some stunning views from the summits of the the of summits the from views stunning some are There

/7 km /7

4.5 miles 4.5

/3.5 km /3.5 2.25 miles 2.25

11 miles /17 km 6 miles /10 km

The distance involved makes this a challenging The trail follows the initial route of the Dow Hill walk, but with plenty of points of interest it is and Laggan Trails. Past the loch the trail separates certainly worth the eort. and drops down to Tormitchell via the ruins of Follow the good track between Sundown Barbae Farm and the Water of Assel Valley. Valley and Dow Hill. This hill and moorland route A track leads to Dupin and then by footpath uphill branches o to Dalfask Farm and Pinmore. over Auchensoul Hill (1029ft), which gives ine The route passes close to Dinvin Motte, reputed views over Barr and the beautiful Stinchar Valley. to be the inest prehistoric fort in Ayrshire and one The path emerges on the Old Dailly to Barr road of the best preserved mottes in Scotland. It is known locally as “The Screws” before entering situated on a dominating ridge just north of Barr via the old Stinchar Bridge built in 1787. Pinmore, and consists of a central mound The conservation village of Barr is well worth a defended by two well de ined circular ramparts visit with its attractive rows of unspoilt 18th and and ditches. Just below Dinvin is the 496 metres 19th century vernacular buildings. The area has long Pinmore railway tunnel on the Girvan a considerable covenanting history and in the Stranraer line, built in 1877. old churchyard there are two martyrs’ stones. The route now lies from Pinmore down the quiet Further trails can be explored a mile east of the valley of the Water of Lendal. village in Changue Forest, where a car park with On a rough moorland path the route skirts the an information board is sited detailing the network Grey Hills, a wildlife reserve managed by the of trails. Scottish Wildlife Trust. Special features are patches of herb-rich turf situated on outcrops of Serpentinite rock, only to be found in four other places in the British Isles. From the path you look Girvan AYR down on Loch Lochton where there is a ine display of both white and yellow water lilies. A77 There are magni icent views over the surrounding DAILLY countryside on your return. SHALLOCH PARK

CAR PARK A714

A77 NEWTON STEWART STRANRAER