Walk 118 – Crossford & Cairneyhill Circuit, Fife – 4.4 miles

Posted on by gillianswalks

This post contains affiliate links from which I may make a commission. All opinions are my own. If you’d like more information you can contact me via the Contact page, a link to which is at the bottom of this page in the footer.

CrossfordCairneyhill10
Since the Dean sits in an elevated position, we got some lovely views out across the farmland towards the Firth of Forth and beyond.

This circuit runs between the villages of Crossford and Cairneyhill following quiet country roads, open farmland and the Dean woods, before returning to the start along the wide pavement on the A994. From the Dean you will enjoy lovely views down across both villages and the Firth of Forth!

Print Dog-friendly walk (note: some on-road and pavement sections)

  Car parking at Crossford Scout Hall (KY12 8AP). Bus stops on Cairneyhill Rd/A994, a short walk from the start point. Closest bus and train stations are in Dunfermline, approx 2 miles away.

Download/follow this route on your mobile

route image  Route:  Leave the parking area and head out onto A994/Cairneyhill Road. Cross over onto Lundin Road. Take the third road on the left just as Lundin Road starts to go uphill. This quiet country road takes you through some trees to Pitconnochie Farm. At the farm turn right to pass through some gates and into the field. Follow the track across the field to the edge of the Dean Plantation. Turn left at the burn to go up the steps and continue along this (sometimes muddy) footpath until it emerges onto Pitdinnie Road. Turn left and follow the road down past Forrester Park Golf Course onto A994/Main Street. Turn left and walk along Main Street for approx 1 mile. The Scout Hall will be on your right. 

Crossford & Cairneyhill Circuit

Use this website often? I invite you to support my work through Patreon or by making a one-off donation.

WALK REVIEW: 12th March 2017

A new day, a new dog…. my friend was looking after her sister’s 2 year old Labradoodle ‘Happy‘ for a couple of weeks starting from today and after his long drive up from Oxford we reckoned he would be only too happy to accompany us on a long walk!

We had been used to walking Bodhi, a 1 year old Golden Retriever, and in comparison today was a breeze. Of course it all comes down to different breeds being interested in different things. While Bodhi would have made a b-line for every muddy puddle and burn we passed,  Happy seemed content to just plod along avoiding them all. While Bohdi would have run off at top speed as soon as he was let off his head, Happy never strayed more than a few meters in front before hanging back to wait for us to catch up.  What they did have in common was a love of playing with other dogs, and a love of treats (otherwise known as the T word!) But sssshhh… don’t tell their owners! ;-)

The walk itself was really enjoyable and I would definitely do it again. We were out in the countryside within 5 minutes of starting and didn’t come back into ‘civilization’ until the very last 15/20 minutes. The tracks were muddy in places but we had gone prepared for that in wellies/hiking boots so it wasn’t a problem. The sun even came out towards the end :-)

CrossfordCairneyhill1
This is the bottom end of Lundin Road with it’s lovely houses. The country road we took is just around the bend where the road begins to head uphill.
CrossfordCairneyhill2
Quiet road between Crossford and Pitconnochie Farm
CrossfordCairneyhill4
The huge blue barns of Pitconnochie Farm can be seen from the main road and also from within the Dean woods. The route we took goes through the gates on the right of this photo and onto the field.
CrossfordCairneyhill6
I would love for all farmers to do this: a very reasonable (and polite!) request. I generally get a bit sweaty at the thought of crossing a field, even though I am aware of the Scottish rights of access law. You just never know how the farmer feels about it.
CrossfordCairneyhill5
Track across the field heading for the Dean
CrossfordCairneyhill7
On reaching the Dean we turned left to go up these stairs. It seemed like these were a fairly recent addition to improve the footpath
CrossfordCairneyhill11
Inside the Dean woodland – this is Happy, the 2 year old Labradoodle. He had a great time on this walk!
CrossfordCairneyhill9
The path was pretty muddy in places but nothing to worry about if you go prepared.
CrossfordCairneyhill14
The road into Cairneyhill from the Dean. Again it was really quiet; only one car passed us the entire time.

Use this website often? I invite you to support my work through Patreon or by making a one-off donation.

One thought on “Walk 118 – Crossford & Cairneyhill Circuit, Fife – 4.4 miles”

  1. Pingback: Walk 180 – Dean Plantation from Cairneyhill via West Fife Way – 7.6 miles – Gillian's Walks

Comments are closed.