Why not include a visit to the stone dragon whilst you are there?
Dog-friendly walk
Car parking available on Beach Drive, Irvine (KA12 8PP). Start point is 1 mile from Irvine Train Station. Local bus service stops close by.
View full route description
From the car park follow the footpath left (SW) along the River Irvine until it meets with the Firth of Clyde at Irvine Beach. Cross the small car park and take the steps down onto the sandy beach. Walk along the beach for a bit, looking out for the stone dragon up on the hill to your left. Before coming parallel to it, use one of the pathways up through the sand dunes to come off the beach and enter the grassy beach park. Turn left and follow the footpath towards the pond. At the fork keep right to walk around the edge of the pond, past the crazy golf. Continue past the picnic/barbecue area and out onto Beach Drive. Turn left to return to the car park.
WALK REPORT: 31st May 2016
This was an unplanned walk! My friend LW and I have become accustomed to regular “tea and cake” catch ups at GRO Coffee in Irvine. Even though neither of us lives in the town, a few months ago we went there and enjoyed it so much that it is now our venue of choice. This particular evening was wonderfully mild, calm and sunny and so we decided to take a short walk to work off the inevitable piece of cake we would shortly be consuming!
We headed for the sandy beach as as it was such a nice night it wasn’t long before the shoes were off and we were walking barefoot in the sand 🙂 Despite it being around 7pm there were still lots of people around, some having seemingly spent the whole afternoon here and still in their beachwear! It was mild…. but not that mild… time to get some clothes on people for goodness sake!
We didn’t walk too far before turning left and making our way over the sand dunes onto the footpath leading across the beach park. Amazingly, it was the first time I can remember walking around the Beach Park, depsite coming to Irvine more times than I can count. Normally I am either going to the (now demolished) Magnum Leisure Centre to use the swimming pool, taking a stroll up to the stone dragon, or going directly onto the beach.
I was so pleasantly surprised by what I found that I decided there and then I would bring my husband and children here very soon. The footpath around the pond is great for the kids to cycle around, it has picnic benches complete with a barbecue area, crazy golf (bring your own clubs and balls), and lots of grassy areas to sit or play on. Not to mention the spectacular sunset behind the Isle of Arran which we were treated to on this particular evening!
