Length: 5-6 miles
Duration: Around 2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
As a family, we love a walk that has a destination rather than just a normal out and back. Some of you may have seen our reel on the Arran Dog Bakery social feeds from February, when Elaine, Wellesley and Freya walked from Dyemill in Lamlash to Whiting Bay via the forestry track....But if not, watch the video in this blog.
It was a VERY wet day, but this is still a great walk regardless of the weather, and in our opinion, Arran is beautiful in any weather conditions...so long as you are prepared!
Starting in the Dyemill car park at the Southern end of Lamlash, you follow the forestry road up the hill, before coming out of the trees and getting a lovely view over to Holy Isle (not the day we did it as we were in the cloud!)
After approximately 2 miles, you’ll see a signpost for Hawthorne, so if you want to cut your walk short, you can head down to the main road through Knockenkelly from here and get the bus from either the Kings Cross road-end, or at Fen Place in Whiting Bay.
We decided to continue along the forestry track taking you along the hillside above Whiting Bay. You’ll then see a couple of signposts. On this occasion we went left down the hill (signposted for Whiting Bay).
This takes you down the northern side of Glenashdale falls. You’ll then join a single-track road, which takes you back down towards the main road along the front of Whiting Bay.
If you need a coffee stop at this point, we recommend both The Coffee Pot & The Shore. Both have outside seating which is perfect for muddy paws and boots, and dogs are welcome indoors at The Shore the last time we checked.
There are numerous bus stops along the main road in Whiting Bay, so there are plenty of places to catch a bus back to your starting point.
From the map you can see we walked all the way back to Kings Cross via Sandbraes park (and a paddle in the sea), which made our walk just under 7 miles. However, depending on where in the village you decide to catch the bus from it would be either 5 or 6 miles.
If you walk along to the Sandbraes end of the village, be sure to pop into Bay Stores and grab a coffee for the bus ride. (you’ll also get to wait in what we think is the most beautiful bus stop on the island!...no pictures, go and see for yourself!)
Terrain
This is a moderate walk with some hills, however the forestry road makes it easy underfoot, and once you get up and out of the car park, the uphill sections are well spaced out!
Wildlife
There will be deer in the among the trees and you will see signs of them on the track. You are also likely to see buzzards.
Comments