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At only a half mile each way, this super short walk from Fairlie Train Station takes you uphill through local woodland to an impressive waterfall on Southannan Burn. Go after (or during!) heavy rainfall to see it at it’s best.
BUGGY-FRIENDLY WALK (Please be aware that although there are no steps and the terrain itself is fine for a buggy, the route is uphill from the railway bridge until you reach the waterfall – approx 0.25 miles)
Walk starts from Fairlie Train Station (KA29 0DX) where there is a small car park. Bus stop on Main Road/A78, a couple of minutes walk from the start.
Route: Exit the car park onto Station Road. Take your first left onto Montgomerie Drive. When you reach Southannan Road turn left along a lane which passes beneath a railway bridge. Take the track ahead of you heading uphill high above Southannan Burn. At the top of the hill turn left to reach the waterfall. Retrace your steps for the return route. There is an optional short de-tour to see some smaller waterfalls on the way back: at the bottom of the hill before passing under the railway bridge take the track on your right. Follow it along to a small footbridge from which the falls are visible.
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WALK REVIEW: 4th February 2017
My mum loves waterfalls. According to Facebook, there are some picture-perfect ones to be found in Fairlie! Where? I had no idea but we needed to find them!….. It had been suggested to me that I park at the train station and make my way from there however I couldn’t find a single walk review online and my maps returned no obvious loop we could do from there. All the tracks just seemed to end in the middle of nowhere. From experience I knew that just because a map shows a track ending doesn’t mean it does end: the only way to be sure is to go there and explore. So that’s what we did today!
The weather was not kind to us and we marched along in heavy rain hoping it was going to be worth it. You have got to be crazy (or REALLY love waterfalls) to venture out exploring an unfamiliar area on a day like this, right? Well my poor mum didn’t realise there was no planned route until we were already out and soaking. Add to that the fact that I was bursting for the loo before we even left the car park and you have 2 women questioning whether or not to just forget about the whole thing and find a café instead. Actually my mum did suggest that at one point ;-)
We came across many a dead end: The paths all seemed to lead to fields. However I promised my mum a waterfall and thank goodness we stumbled across these lovely specimens!
We tried our utmost to find a way of turning this walk into a loop but I am afraid it was to no avail. We even tried crossing one of the fields but ended up turning back. On the plus side we caught a glimpse of Fairlie Castle and a footpath on the other side of the burn, somewhere we will return to on a drier day to explore further!
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Gillian's Walks 
Thanks for your message, yes I think I know where you mean. I have done a walk around this area which sounds similar to what you are describing and I haven’t written it up yet but it is the route I plan to lead as part of this year’s Clyde Muirshiel Walking Festival – look out for details being announced soon if you fancy booking on! The route is this one…. (although it doesn’t go past Southannan Waterfall, it is in the neighbourhood and you can probably link to it from where you were). https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/MjEyNDAzOQ==
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Did this lovely walk today with family members. There is quite a clear path follows on from the waterfalls, which heads uphill and then along a forest track leading to a gate into a field. There are nice views of the Clyde estuary from here. A couple of dog walkers advised that the path continued round the hillside and eventually back down to the Fairlie Rd. One suggested that we could arrange a pick-up by another car, mainly because I think the concept of using public transport was completely alien to her.
Continuing as the lady suggested would have made the wall around 6-7 miles.
There appears to be options for a range of walks around this area. Will explore further soon.
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Must try this walk, Southannan Waterfall, Fairlie. Looks lovely, I love waterfalls!
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