Walk 93 – Eglinton Countryside Walk – 2.7 miles

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A pleasant woodland walk taking in some of the highlights of Eglinton Country Park before looping around Eglinton Loch and returning to the start via a track along the outer perimeter of the park.

Buggy-friendly walk

orange circle with white dog icon inside Dog-friendly walk

The easiest way to travel to Eglinton Country Park is by car. There is plenty of free parking onsite. If using public transport the closest train station is in Kilwinning, 2 miles away. From there it is possible to cycle (approx 10 mins) or walk (approx 40 mins) or take a bus to Irvine Road/A737. From the bus stop the start point is approx half a mile /15 minutes away on foot. Eglinton Country Park is accessible by bike with good cycle parking onsite. It is located close to the National Cycle Network routes 7 and 73.

Eglinton Countryside Walk

WALK REPORT: 11th October 2016

My friend Lynsey and I had been in the habit of meeting once per week in the Summer evenings to complete a 7 mile walk in or close to the Kilmarnock area. We had skipped a few weeks for various reasons and suddenly found ourselves in early Autumn with the darker nights well and truly on their way! Despite starting this walk earlier than we normally would and being back at the car by 6:45pm after a much shorter 2.7 mile walk, we had to rely on the torches on our mobile phones at a few points to see our way through the trees….. We were going to have to re-think our strategy for future walks!

I had been planning to name this walk “Eglinton Loch Loop” since the path circles around the perimeter of the loch; this being the whole reason I had wanted to try it in the first place. However I was a little disappointed to find out that you don’t see the loch at all for the entire walk unless you take a de-tour (see route description for info)! It is well worth the short additional walk as it is a beautiful and peaceful place. Any time I have been here there have been people fishing.

The walk starts through the more familiar parts of Eglinton Country Park: the play park, picnic areas, castle ruins and footbridges. You then venture into quieter areas of woodland and open countryside.

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Eglinton Loch
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I loved how these trees formed a line along the edge of the footpath, arching over at the top as though to invite you to walk past.

After this point there were some unexpected path closures due to work taking place by Scottish Water. This also meant that everything suddenly became a lot less scenic and a lot more like a building site! It was a short section though so not too much harm done 🙂

After passing through the gate pictured above the path turns right and you enter more woodland. This was where we needed our torches! Technically it was still daylight, but in the shade of the trees it was pitch black. I was glad I hadn’t decided to come a walk by myself!

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