This is a circular walk beginning in the quaint rural Ayrshire village of Straiton. Initially the route heads uphill to follow rough and sometimes overgrown, boggy tracks through an area of forestry. Enjoy fine views down into the village and the Galloway hills beyond. The return leg of the walk loops back into Straiton on a variety of terrain including farm tracks, grassy fields and surfaced roads.

   Download a map of this route HERE (Viewranger app required)

  Car parking available just off Kirkmichael Road, Straiton, next to the recreation ground (KA19 7NF). There is an information board in the car park and some leaflets about walks in the area

  Route: Leave the car park from the main entrance, cross Kirkmichael Road and turn left. Almost immediately take the road on your right signposted Fowler’s Croft. Continue straight on passing some pretty cottages on your left and a small burn on your right and at the end of the road follow the narrow track straight ahead into the trees. You will emerge onto B741/Dalmellington Road. Turn left along the roadside for a short distance before turning left again to cross a stone bridge onto a minor road. The road heads uphill past Hazel Lodge, just beyond which it becomes a farm track.  Follow this track for approx 0.4 miles then turn left onto a grassy footpath (very overgrown & boggy in places at the time of writing). This path winds it’s way through a tree-lined corridor for 1.5 miles before emerging at a gate. Pass through the gate and turn left to follow a surfaced road downhill and past Altizourie farm to the B7045/Kirkmichael Road. Crossing the road, continue almost straight ahead onto a gravel track. After passing Bishopland Lodge, turn left and after a short distance you will reach a gate at the entrance to a field. Cross the field keeping close to the boundary fence, and emerge onto B7045. Turn right along B7045 for approx 300 metres then turn right to reach The Old Bridge of Blairquhan over the Water of Girvan. Turn left and at the B741 cross over and continue straight ahead. Take the first road on your left (signposted Bennan). After passing through Bennan farm turn left and follow the track along until you reach Newton Stewart Road. Turn left here to return to the car park via the village of Straiton’s Main Street. 

 

WALK REPORT: 11th July 2017

A while back I picked up a leaflet containing several walks in the Straiton area, one of which was the Hill Wood Walk. The route was a linear walk which appeared to end at the main road with the return options being to retrace your steps or walk along the busy B road, neither of which appealed to me in the slightest.  If you have been following my blog you will know that I am a loop lover! And so I set about finding a way to turn this walk into a circular. The result was better than I could have imagined!  (I did boast to my mum that in my very biased opinion the return section was far more interesting and enjoyable than the published walk from the leaflet 😉 )

Wildlife-a-plenty: dragonflies, bees, butterflies, heron, a bird of prey (need to swot up on my birds!) and some beautiful areas of wild flowers.

Somehow, in the woodland section I managed to lose mum! It was the most impossible path ever to lose someone on, but we managed it. To set the scene, here is what the path was like……

…basically a (very overgrown!) tree-lined corridor continuing for 1.5 miles with nowhere to go either side. I needed to use the bathroom, found a suitable spot, told mum, she said ok and continued along the path, I did my business, came out from the trees two minutes later and picked up the pace to catch up. Where the hell is she? I thought as I followed the path around yet another bend . No sign of her! I stopped and checked behind me. Nothing. I listened for crunching or swishing of grass or any sort of noise to signify another person was near…. just an eerie silence. Muuuum?!  I called out…. not a peep in reply. I knew I hadn’t passed her, and I knew there had been no alternative paths, so she must be ahead of me. Yet I knew that she wouldn’t usually go so far ahead without waiting…. Has she been dragged into the trees by some madman?  All sorts of things went through my head and I didn’t know whether to keep walking or start heading back. I was going to have to try and phone her! Just as I reached for my mobile it rang, ‘Mum’ flashing on the screen. Turned out she had decided to go to the loo as well just along from where I’d stopped! Could only happen to us….!

When we reached the field I became a little nervous as there wasn’t actually a path or track across it. Although on our particular visit there were what appeared to be fresh landrover tracks which had flattened the grass enough to leave a trail for us to follow. We soon found out why: the farmer was out. He turned out to be really nice and even paused, puffing away at his pipe, to hold a gate open for us.

We both loved the very last section of the walk through Straiton. Despite parking next to the recreation ground several times in the past for walks or visits to the play park, this was my first time actually passing through the village itself.  Rows of quaint cottages with tiny little gardens to the front. A real ‘olde worlde’ feel about it.

No walk would be complete without a visit to the local public toilets (even though, as you have read, we definitely shouldn’t have needed to go yet!) It turns out that they are run by locals, having been closed by the council in 2008. Apparently it costs £3500 to run every year and they rely solely on donations. We loved this little poem inside which got the message across in a lighthearted way 🙂

 

Read about my other walks in the Straiton area:

• Lady Hunter Blair (2 miles)
• Craigengower and the Water of Girvan (4 miles)