With the puppy now eight months old and able to to out and about a bit more I decided to use the suggestions on this great site to explore some local walks that I haven’t tried before. The information on lengths, terrain and times is useful in helping to choose something suitable.

The car park start is easy to find, although it is up a short, steep forest road. From there there are no signs to help find the correct route. As it turns out we chose the right hand path, which meant we did the walk in reverse. Having said that I think it was more enjoyable to start off with the steep climb and then meander back down to the car park.



The path is well maintained, although there are a few wind blown trees across the first (or last, if you take the marked route) section but these are not difficult to negotiate. At the top of this steep section the path to the viewpoint is well marked and the viewpoint easy to find. The trees have grown a bit (as trees have a tendency to do!) and so some aspects of the view are slightly obscured. Nevertheless, it is worth the very slight detour for a look. We also enjoyed a pleasant chat with a couple who had gotten there on their tandem bicycle, impressive although they didn’t take the steep path.

After enjoying the view, taking a few photos and waiting for the dogs who had taken off for a bit of exploring , we returned to the main path along the same route from the viewpoint. The walking was easy with a clear path and good signs. The views along the first stretch are good too.

Further down the hill we detoured again to visit the secret cages. These are best described as underwhelming They are basically chipboard and chicken wire and it seems like someone decided it would be easier to turn them into a tourist “attraction” than dismantle and remove them The audio description of the red kite programme still works though and it has certainly been successful as these magnificent birds can be spotted regularly in this part of Galloway.

Back to the main path and down the hill before a short uphill section back to the car park. Overall an enjoyable hour spent out with the dogs. It would be very easy to extend into a longer walk by parking at Mossdale and joining the trail from the Raiders Road, which is what the tandem riders had done