Weekend Break 2 -

Balcary and Brighouse Coastal Walks

Walk 1: Balcary, Rascarrel and Barlocco Bays - 1.5 to 11 miles - Coast and countryside. 

Walk 2 : Part 1 - Meikle Ross - 4 miles;  Part 2 - Brighouse Bay – 4.5 miles – Total 8.5 miles. Coast and Countryside. Moderate difficulty.

These two walks are two popular coastal walks on the Solway Coast which give you several walking distance options.

Accommodation - B&B and Hotel options in the Castle Douglas, Balcary and Kirkcudbright areas. Accomodation list.

Local Places of Interest - Castle Douglas Food Town; Sulwath Brewery; Threave Castle and Garden; Galloway Conservation Park; Galloway Hydros VC; David Coulthard museum; Kirkcudbright artists town; Cardoness Castle; Cream o' Galloway ice cream farm; Kilt making centre; Mill on the Fleet.Tea Rooms, Pubs and Restaurants recommended.
Places of Interest list.

Price – for 2 nights accommodation - from £95 p.p. - B&B; from £145 - Hotel.

You can do the two walks on whichever day you prefer.

Walk 1: Balcary, Rascarrel and Barlocco Bays - 1.5 to 11 miles - Coastal.  

Nine miles from Castle Douglas on the Solway Coast, this is a popular walk is in a National Scenic Area with Balcary Bay being a particular beauty spot. The waymarked walk initially takes you through farmland and past a loch to Rascarrel Bay. You have the option then to walk a mile to Barlocco Bay, or yet another mile along the cliff tops (keeping to the field side of the fence) to get a view of Ross lighthouse on Little Ross near Kirkcudbright. 

You return the same way to Barlocco Bay but take the lower path along the beach and beack to Rascarrel, again on a lower path passing beach huts. You then join a shorter walk return path - 5 miles in total - back to Balcary along the coast path.

One striking feature is the cliff side walk with captivating views over Heston Island. There are other options in the area to extend your walk via Auchencairn village using quiet roads or a separate new walk at the other side of the Bay. We can give advice at a welcome meeting. You have the option of two village pubs and a good quality hotel for food and drink.

Walks 2: Meikle Ross and Brighouse Bay.

Brighouse Bay, the start point for these other two excellent walks, was used by Kirkcudbright's artists, most notably the Scottish Colourist E.A. Hornell, in the early 1900's for several paintings. On the way to the start you pass through the picturesque town of Kirkcudbright – which is also worth a look around on the way back - or the nearby popular Cream o’ Galloway ice cream farm.

There are two circular excellent way-marked coastal walks, you can either do one or both -
Part 1 - a new recently way-marked route via Ross Bay round Meikle Ross with spectacular views over Ross island and its lighthouse, and
Part 2 - the other past the golf course to the site of an old fort at Borness Point before taking a path inland to a panoramic viewpoint at Cairniehill and back to Brighouse Bay.

Part 1 - Meikle Ross - 4 miles – Coast and Countryside.
This is a recently way-marked new walk with several interesting characteristics. You begin by walking uphill through a field and over the hill to get glorious views over Ross Bay with Kirkcudbright Bay behind. After walking down to shore level to the Ross Dairy farm, a pleasant walk round the Bay to the other side takes you to a kissing gate leading uphill to the Meikle Ross. You soon reach the top to find spectacular views over to Little Ross island and lighthouse which is only ¼ mile offshore. The house on Little Ross is still occupied for part of the year and was once the site of a grizzly murder of a lighthouse keeper during the 1960's. Continuing round the rocky peninsula there are various spots to explore as you return to your starting point.
Near the starting point is Balcary Bay Holiday Park bar and restaurant – as well as swimming pool and golf course. The bar and restaurant or shop is a suitable half way refreshment stop point before taking the next walk in the opposite direction.

Part 2 - Brighouse Bay – 4.5 miles – Coast and Countryside.
The walk follows the rocky shoreline along the edge of the Bay and then rises along beside the golf course with magnificent views across Wigtown Bay to The Machars region of Galloway and the Isle of Man. After reaching Borness Point you leave the shoreline and head inland and gradually uphill to Cairniehill where the vistas are even more expansive. Passing through Cairniehill Farm, still on the way-marked route, you arrive back at Brighouse Bay, again with the options for refreshment nearby.