Criffel Circuit: Stunning Views!

[Blokewithastroke]

It was somewhat earlier than our usual holiday this year (Going on holiday before the end of June? Cripes!) but given the state of the pandemic and at just less than 2.5 hours away from home, we thought "why not?". We had been to Dumfries and Galloway a couple of times before in the deep mid-winter months between Christmas and the New Year, but this year we decided it was time to venture out and see what this region of Scotland was like in the summer months. We stayed for a week in a one-bedroom cottage in Rockcliffe, a small village that lies at the centre of the 'Scottish Riviera', or so they say. Who exactly is "they"? I don't know, but in terms of the weather "they" got it 'spot on'. As we crossed the border between England and Scotland the rain miraculously disappeared (Hang on? Shouldn't that be the other way round?) and we enjoyed moderate-to-good sunshine for a week before departing for home.

After spending a happy day walking the Colvend circuit on the Saturday and meeting our brother/in-law and two of his offspring on the 'other side' of the border with Ayrshire, we decided it was time to climb. And what better place to climb than the hill that dominates the area, Criffel, at 569 metres above sea level?

Criffel and Knockendoch from the Caerlaverock Wetland Centre

We started our walk at the large car park behind Sweetheart Abbey in the village of New Abbey. Following our guidebook, we turned right on leaving the car park and proceeded along the road until we reached the Abbey Arms. Here, we turned left, as instructed, and followed a narrow road followed by a footpath past the Waterloo monument that stood up on our right. Shortly after this, we started to climb a fairly steep hill of Knockendoch, a nice ‘intermediate’ hill to our eventual climb of Criffel. I ought to say at this point that I have read descriptions of the walk that warn you of the treacherous bogs that often lie underfoot on the hillside. However, someone has worked long and hard to replace much of the route with firm and clear stones that make it much easier to ascend and descend these two hills. Well, for the most part any way. About halfway up Knockendoch, the stones run out and it is necessary to climb a grassy path the rest of the way. Bear in mind that I use only one arm to help me overcome these challenges then I am sure that you can see the nature of the challenge I faced. Nonetheless, while my wife bounded up the grassy hill, I eventually made it to the top a couple of minutes behind her.

A Quick and Refreshing Drink from the Top of Knockendoch

As we paused for a much-needed drink, we could see several people at the bottom of the alternative path who had obviously started their climb from the shorter route which begins at Ardwall. We would eventually come down that shorter path, but for now we had to press on our walk by ascending a moderately hilly path for about the next kilometre. There was no-one else on our stretch of the walk, as far as I could see.

It was on this moderate hill that we encountered several places where the hill was more-than-slightly boggy. However, it was obvious that the ground had tried out somewhat since early June and, as a result, we didn’t experience anything like those who had previously described the walk had led us to expect. Having said that, I was forced to stop at one point and, with the help of my wife, removed a stone that had somehow got inside of my right boot. (This perhaps explains why I am always slightly nervous when walking alone – not that I wouldn’t ask anyone else to re-tie my boot laces, you understand, but I am always slightly reluctant to ask a ‘passing stranger’ to do this.)

As we started off again, it soon became clear that we were almost there as we approached the top of Criffel. For a time, it looked as though the clouds had darkened and we wouldn’t be able to see the views. Indeed, as we stood at the triangulation pillar which marks the highest point, I was afraid that it would start to rain. However, about 5 minutes later the cloud dispersed somewhat and we could see for miles around. The best view was to the south, looking out over the Solway Firth with the mountains of English Lake District in the distance. Looking north-east you could see the estuary of the River Nith with Dumfries in the middle distance and the hills of Southern Upland Scotland beyond. The views were both glorious and breathtaking, to say the least.

The Trig Point of Criffel. The Clouds are Beginning to Loom!

Looking Out Over the Solway Firth

After sitting down and eating our lunch, we decided that it was time to descend. We did this along a well-marked and what appeared to be a new path that took us steeply downhill until we reached the bottom. This certainly took its heavy toll on our knees. It is often said that the descent of a hill or a mountain far outweighs the ascent, in terms of the pain that it causes. The path up and down Criffel is a testimony to that!

The View to the North East with Dumfries in the Distance

After our fortunately relatively painless descent, we eventually arrived at a signpost, which either pointed us in the direction of the small car park at Ardwall or took us on our preferred route north towards the west side of Loch Kindar. We followed a track used by Scottish Forestry for about a kilometre before turning down a short descent to the north-western side of the loch. In contrast to our previous route, this didn’t seem to be a popular path, by any means. We had to negotiate our way through nettles and over-arching thickets before reaching the bottom of the route. It wasn’t too long, however, before we reached the loch side, which bordered on to a field with a herd of cows in it. As we walked to a gate at the far east of the field, a friendly farmer who was passing through advised us that we must almost double-back on ourselves and proceed to a signpost that we could just about see in the distance. Having located the signpost and the next field beyond – scaring a young couple sitting lazily by a gate, who hadn’t noticed us as we were coming along - it was just a matter of following the lane into the housing estate of New Abbey. Working our way through the houses, we made it back to the car park in plenty of time to get a well-earned cup of tea - and a piece of exceedingly nice cake! - at the local tearoom.

The Forest Track

The verdict? This was an excellent and hard walk which took us through fields, forestry and up steep hillsides, leading to some truly stunning views. We couldn’t have asked for better than that!