Dog-friendly walk
Small parking area at Bargany Gardens, signposted off the minor road between Dailly and Old Dailly. An honesty box is provided at the car park and donations for wandering round the Estate are gratefully received. No public transport to start point.
There isn’t one set way to explore these gardens and I would recommend parking up and wandering in whichever direction draws your attention! I have been several times and walked a different way each time, discovering little areas I hadn’t seen previously. Part of the beauty of Bargany Gardens is exploring and discovering! The route shown on the map image above is only a suggestion and covers a distance of approx 2.5 miles.
WALK REPORT: MAY 2019 AND 2021
Bargany Gardens were unknown to me until I saw someone post on Facebook about it and immediately I took note of it as a “must visit” destination! I have been several times since with friends and family and it is always a beautiful sensory experience.
One of my first visits was in late May 2019 with a friend and my two boys who were aged 6 and 8. What a magical place and a hidden gem! So many different colours of rhododendrons creating a carpet of fallen petals on the footpaths like confetti. The kids loved picking up the petals and before long there were inevitably too many to carry. My umbrella was then opened up and became a makeshift basket (I was very pleased with myself for that idea). The pond was glass-like and covered in water lilies. Is it any wonder that it is so well photographed! In fact it was a photo of this very pond with its boathouse which had inspired me to make the trip. There was just so much to draw the eye and we spent a good couple of hours wandering around with no particular plan.
The gardens remained closed in May 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, so there was no visit that year. On to 2021 and I returned with family this time. It was a completely different experience! I had already noticed during my walks in the springtime of 2021 that plants were unseasonably late in appearing compared to “normal”. So despite being at Bargany in late May again, many of the rhododendrons had not yet come in to full bloom and instead the cherry blossoms were only just losing their flowers and there were carpets of bluebells and wild garlic all around! It was fascinating comparing photos from two years ago to what I was seeing now. We strolled around once again, discovering paths and trails I hadn’t noticed last time. It is only 4.5 miles from here to Girvan so when we were done exploring we jumped in the car and headed to the coast for a chippy dinner and a windswept flying-visit to the sandy beach. May as well make a day of it eh!
