Dog friendly walk
Car parking available outside Annbank Bowling Club (KA6 5ED). Local bus services from Ayr stop on B744/Weston Avenue beside the bowling club.
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Start by walking past Annbank Bowling Club on Brocklehill Avenue, in the opposite direction from the main road. Almost immediately you will find yourself on a tree-lined footpath. After approx 0.3 miles you will reach a crossroads. Turn left to go into the woods and follow the course a pretty burn as it makes it way downstream and into the River Ayr. When you reach the River Ayr follow it along as far as a stone wall with a gap in it and some steps. (Continuing ahead will take you into Auchincruive Estate and onwards to Oswalds Brige.) For today though, take the footpath on your right just before the wall, and follow it uphill. At the top turn left onto a much wider footpath. After a while this track begins to narrow and you will find yourself approaching a field edge. Just before reaching the field edge fence, there is an indistinct fork in the path and you should bear right to head uphill and out of the woods onto a track near Brockelhill Farm. Turn right and enjoy an easy (sometimes muddy!) walk downhill. You will come to the crossroads from earlier but this time continue straight ahead to return to Annbank along the same track you started on.
WALK REPORT: 25TH OCTOBER 2020
I had visited these woods for the first time a couple of weeks prior and was so taken by them I vowed to return and explore them a bit more. It was to become the perfect pre-lunch stroll with the family today! There was lots to love: access to the woods was super easy from Annbank, the stream was as pretty as I had remembered, the River Ayr full from a week of heavy rain and the whole area looking suitably autumnal. The kids enjoyed picking up a multitude of different sized sticks and challenging us to find the biggest piece of branch to drag along. I’m pretty sure I won 😉
The footpaths were fairly muddy and wet in places: definitely a boots or wellies walk, and aside from a few people out walking their dogs, we had the place to ourselves.
Shortly before the end of the walk, I had my own challenge to set: who can make the biggest splash in the muddiest puddle! The winner?……
