A popular circuit from Lochranza, heading around the Newton Point headland to the white cottage at Fairy Dell, rumoured to be a gateway to the land of fairies.
Surfaced and unsurfaced road, grassy tracks and aggregate footpath; wet or rough going in places.
Bus to Lochranza Field Studies Centre (adds 600m each way).
Parking area where minor road nears shore at NR937506.
The walk begins from the minor road which branches off opposite the field study centre (bus stop) and church in Lochranza. The best parking is where the road means the loch shoreline. There are great views across the water to Lochranza Castle.
Begin by continuing along the road, passing a few cottages and ignoring a path off to Whin Cottage. Watch out for Loch Ranza's resident seal population who can often be seen basking on the rocks here at low tide. Soon the shoreline road ends; continue on the footpath.
Follow the path around Newton Point, where there is a view indicator; you may see Arran's north end ferry plying its route between Lochranza and Claonaig on the Kintyre peninsula. Continuing the walk, the shoreline was one of the sites at which geologist James Hutton (1726 - 1797) first identified the geological feature - 'Hutton's Unconformity' - that was to lead to the notion that Earth's surface has evolved over an immense period of time.
The path - which is now rougher - continues round the headland beneath the red sandstone cliffs characteristic of this part of the shore to reach the whitewashed cottage at Fairy Dell. From here the Arran Coastal Path continues round to Sannox - a very long, remote stretch. Our shorter route turns right immediately before a ruinous drystane dyke just before the cottage.
Follow the path as it climbs up through the woods and into the open, bearing right and continuing to ascend as far as the 60m contour. There are views to Kintyre, Bute and Cowal; eventually the path reaches a couple of houses at the end of a rough track.
Follow this to reach Whin Cottage, home of the Arran Stonemen who create and sell products made of rock collected locally. The track continues downhill - with excellent views - to eventually rejoin the public road on the north shore of the loch by the start.
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