If you like the sound of this but fancy a longer walk check out my Three Parks Trail (4.7 miles) or my Kilmarnock Heritage Trail (1.2 miles) which takes in some of the highlights of the town.
Buggy-friendly walk (some steps in my route but they can be avoided)
Dog-friendly walk
Free car park off Strawberrybank Road, Kilmarnock. Kilmarnock bus and train stations are half a mile away from the park.
View full route description
Turn right out of the main car park to the end of the road and turn left to go past a colourful barrier, entering the park beside the pond.
Take the first path on your right, uphill heading away from the pond for now. There will be play parks on both sides of you.
At the top of the hill is the Reformer’s Monument, and just to the left of that follow a narrower trail taking you downhill to some steps and then to the river.
Turn left to walk along the riverside path. After a short steep uphill section where you have a view down to a large open grassy area, turn left to go back uphill (there are two lefts – pick any) Note: you can extend the walk by continuing along the river instead and turning left to go uphill at the far end of the grassy area.
Back at the top, go up some steps, emerging in front of the Burns Monument Centre. (Look out for the stone lions on your left!) Walk along the road with the building on your left, and keep an eye out for the Burns statue hidden inside the entrance gates. Continue to the end of this road, turning left after the barrier to go downhill. At the bottom of the hill turn left, through another barrier. This wide path takes you back past the pond and to the first barrier you went through. The car park is just to your right.
WALK REPORT: 9th December 2016
Being very aware that I had scheduled walk number 100 of my 100 walk challenge for Saturday 10th December, this was my final opportunity to get walk 99 done beforehand! Luckily it was a dry day and I had the morning free with my 3 year old before nursery so I decided to head to our local Kay Park. Of course, I didn’t tell T that we were going for a walk…. as far as he was concerned he was going to the cycle track he knows and loves, and we were also going to feed the ducks. Once there I parked in a different location to our usual place and made sure we took a slightly indirect route to the pond 😀
Actually, I hadn’t been up past the Burns Monument Centre for years and I had forgotten about the stone lions! You can see where they were once painted in gold but most of the paint has long since been chipped off leaving the bare stone underneath. After feeding the ducks, T enjoyed zipping around the cycle track on his balance bike and having a play in the park. There were plenty of people out walking their dogs today, testament to the park’s popularity with the locals.
