Dog-friendly walk (Note there is one very short road section on exiting the Dean with no pavement)
Car park just off A907/William Street, Dunfermline. There are bus stops on Rumbling Street/A907 a short walk away. Dunfermline bus station is approx 1 mile away and the train station approx 1.5 miles away.
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The cycle track is identified by a tall wooden way marker at the far end of the car park. Follow this in the direction of Oakley/Clackmannan for 2 miles before turning left to follow a faint path along the field boundary into the Dean Plantation. Once inside the Dean turn left along the footpath which will eventually emerge out onto a wide track at a crossroads. Follow the track directly ahead, turning right when it ends, towards the Lundin Road entrance to the woodland. Pass through the gate and turn right onto Lundin Road. A short distance down the hill look out for a way marker pointing across the fields on your left towards ‘Crossford, Dunfermline‘. Follow the farm track in almost a straight line to cross three fields before emerging onto A907/William Street. Cross over onto Cameron Street then left onto Maitland Street. At the crossroads continue straight ahead onto Ross Lane then left onto Golfdrum Street. At the end of the road turn right onto William Street. The parking area is a short distance ahead on your left-hand-side.
WALK REVIEW: 7th April 2017
Ever since I learned that there is a cycle track running all the way from Clackmannan to Dunfermline I have wanted to check it out! The whole thing is some 14 miles long, ideal on a bike but personally I find that dismantled railways turned into cycle paths tend to get boring after a few miles of long and straight tarmac walking. No harm in doing bits of it though and turning them into loops 🙂 I do love a loop!
On the whole I found this cycle track to be quite scenic compared to most, with lovely views out across the local farmland. There aren’t many original railway features remaining, a couple of stone bridges is about your lot: again this is pretty standard for these sorts of walks.
We found the path into the Dean by accident (well, my friend did, I wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention at that point – probably too busy chatting!) The cycle track begins to run alongside a large field with the trees of the Dean woodland obvious behind it. The path was right at the very end of the field and was simply an earth track worn in by fellow walkers using it to cross to the woods.
This wasn’t our first visit to the Dean, we had come here exploring a few times in recent weeks. One thing consistent each time was the mud and today was no different. It didn’t bother us though, we were expecting it so had come prepared. And Bodhi has certainly never complained about muddy puddles!
Due to it being relatively busy as far as country roads go and the fact we normally have a dog with us, we have tried to avoid walking along Lundin Road in previous walks in this area, however we had no option today. It was a very short section and although there was no pavement there was a good sized grassy verge which we were able to stop on to allow traffic to pass.
I really enjoyed this section across the open farmland. The views were stunning and the fields were a vibrant shade of green with new crops starting to peek through. Taking a walk across a field such as this always leaves me pondering just how much work must be involved in the modern-day farm life. Not to mention the cost of the machinery used to create such perfectly farmed areas of land! Certainly makes you appreciate your veggies that bit more 😉
