Historic King's Cave is one of several locations in which Robert the Bruce is said to have had his famed encounter with a spider. This circular heads down to explore a dramatic section of coastline with a series of caves.
Good forest paths, then rockier, rougher section down by the shore.
Buses will stop at the car park on request.
Car park 3km north of Blackwaterfoot on the A841.
The walk starts from a signed forestry car park 3km north of Blackwaterfoot. Begin by heading along the path from the right hand corner, past the sign. It passes the site of a hut circle and then soon emerges from the trees to run along the northern boundary of the forest, rewarded with views of the Pirnmill Hills, and across the Kilbrannan Sound to the Kintyre peninsula.
The path curves left before doubling back to descend down a rocky gully (a dyke of softer rock) through a cleft to reach a gate - pass through this and onto the shore. The route now continues along the coastline - although the path occasionally disappears simply seek the easiest route along the rocky foreshore.
The caves eventually begin to appear in the cliffs to the left. A path leads up to King's Cave, which is easily identified by the large metal gate protecting the entrance originally intended to protect the Christian and pre-Christian carvings contained within.
These days the gate is left unlocked and it is possible to explore the spacious interior; it's important to avoid damaging the carvings. Leaving the cave, the route turns left to pass through an open cave and continue along the shore beyond.
The path now climbs slightly to reach a signpost. The Arran Coastal Path keeps right here, to continue by the coast to Drumadoon Point and Blackwaterfoot (and beyond), but our circular route takes the left fork to begin the climb back up towards the forest.
There are good views looking south along the coastline before the path re-enters the forest at a gate. It then leads a winding course through the trees to eventually re-emerge at the car park at the start.
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