TERRAIN: Gravel tracks, surfaced roads and pavements, earth trails. Some boggy bits. Gradual ascent for first two miles followed by a gradual descent for the remainder of the walk.
Dog-friendly route
GETTING THERE: There is a small parking area at the war memorial on Main Street, Dailly. Local bus services also stop here.
View full route description
Start at the war memorial on Main Street, Dailly. With your back to the memorial, turn left along Main Street. Look for a lane between house nos 84 and 88 Main Street – turn right here. The lane soon ends at a grassy area – cross straight over the grass to reach a gravel footpath. Turn right. Cross a footbridge on your left then follow the footpath round to the right. At a fork keep left, as indicated by the coloured directional arrows.
You will soon see Old Dalquharran Castle come into view. Beside the old castle, keep left at a fork to walk through a wooded area. After approx 300m a track on your right takes you to the ‘new’ Dalquharran Castle for a closer look. Return to the main path when you’re ready and turn right to continue gently uphill.
After approx 500m you’ll reach a gate and a cottage – go through the gate to exit the Estate and turn left along the road.
Take the third road on the right, approx 500m along (look for the Kilgrammie trail marker sign at the road end). Follow this road uphill.
After approx 500m you will come to Kilgrammie House on your right. Keep walking beyond Kilgrammie House and take the second left.
You will pass Kilgrammie and Woodside Cottages and the road then becomes more of a track, which can be muddy.
Approx 700m along the track look out for an entrance to the woods on your left – this narrow trail leads you downhill through the woods, passing more Kilgrammie trail markers along the way.
The trail soon bends to the left and traverses the wooded hillside for around 1.5 km before reaching a crossroads. Continue ahead to emerge onto the road from earlier, opposite Kilgrammie House.
Turn right and follow the road down to the B741. Turn left along the B741.
To return to Dailly you can either take the first right to continue on the roadside pavement of the B741 or you can retrace your steps through the Dalquharran Estate.
WALK REPORT – 19th May 2024
Whilst in Dailly checking out the new routes within the Dalquharran Estate, and not satisfied with a 3.5 mile walk, I decided to give the Kilgrammie Trail some attention too.
The official route goes up the B741/Dailly Toll Rd to start with, but I decided to form a loop by taking in part of the Dalquharran Estate instead. With its two castles and quiet woodland trails, it is definitely the more scenic option. I can definitely recommend exploring this Estate more thoroughly if you have time – try my Dalquharran Trails walk.
The road up to Kilgrammie House had recently been resurfaced and was smooth as a baby’s bottom. It also still had that fresh tarmac smell to it. Cue a conversation about weird smells that I like: fresh tarmac was on the list, along with creosote, which always reminds me of my Papa who used to paint his hut and fence with it!
This then led on to a rougher, but very pleasant single track road. Beyond some cottages the road became a farm track which was quite muddy in places despite the recent dry weather! Butterflies were enjoying the long grasses and wild flowers, and the local cat came over to say hello 🙂
Quiet, lush, lots to look at: altogether a rather peaceful and enjoyable place to be!
I had it in my head that there was some sort of viewpoint at the end of the track, before we were to turn left into the woods. I was sure I had seen a viewpoint symbol on the map down by the car park. So I was very much looking forward to getting there and hopeful there might be a bench on which we could enjoy our packed lunch. Alas, I was mistaken and there was neither a view nor a bench!
As it turned out the next opportunity for a bench was back in the Dalquharran Estate on the final descent to the car park! So bear that in mind if you are thinking of walking this route with your packed lunch.
Heading down into the woods the walk took on a different feel, almost a bit eerie. I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly but I felt that I was glad I had some other people with me. I have realised since coming back home that this area used to be industrial, with links to coal mining. Nature has taken over now and there are very few remaining signs of days-gone-by. Compared to the new-ness of the Dalquharran Trails we had experienced earlier in the day, this part of the Kilgrammie Trail felt wilder, a little bit forgotten. The abandoned car crash added to that feeling!
Having done zero research about the Kilgrammie Trail before setting off other than a quick peek at the map to see where the route went, the way-markers presented a real mystery for almost the entire walk. Having previously walked the Barony Hill and Lindsayston routes I knew that it was tradition for the Dailly trails to each have their own symbol. But what was this mysterious armless person-shaped metal sculpture representing? And why did some of the way markers have just one ‘person’ whilst others had many, all stacked up behind each other?
Eventually, with about two-thirds of the walk complete, I decided to look it up online. There I found the Dailly Trails leaflet which explains that the symbol represents Jock Tamson’s bairns. Ah ha….hmmm, the rest of the people in my group seemed to know what that meant but I was still none the wiser!
“We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns“, they explained, is a saying which means “we’re all the same“. Further research revealed that a Jock Tamson was born in Dailly in 1778 and went on to have many children, some through marriage and some of his own. He reputedly said “They’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns“, meaning he thought of them all as his own. You can read more about him on the Dailly Parish Community website.
And there we have it: the Kilgrammie Trail, Dailly!
