Kirroughtree: Up and Down Bargaly Glen

Tony Brotherton

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A figure-of-eight route offering easy and mainly level walking along Forestry Commission Scotland tracks and back lanes, it crosses the substantial Palnure Burn four times at different points. There are woods and fields, isolated farms and views of hills and mountains, with just one fairly humdrum stretch between conifers early on.

The scenic high spot of this walk, yet another one starting and finishing at Kirroughtree Visitor Centre, is where the Palnure Burn flows over rocks and through a narrow ravine in a series of miniature falls and rapids. Here is your recommended lunch-break spot and here too are a couple of pieces of public art, together with local poet Liz Niven's lines describing the course of the burn, which begin thus: 'Palfern springs between alder trees / turns back to the wind at Tonderghie / down Grey Mare's Tail and Clugie Linn / falls pierce the mountains with their din'.

You'll have to visit Bargaly Glen for the rest of the poem and study the map to find Clugie Linn and some other intriguing local place-names.

Scotland - South Scotland - Dumfries and Galloway - River Walk

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Cafe, Flowers, Gift Shop, Good for Kids, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Mostly Flat, Mountains, Play Area, River, Tea Shop, Toilets, Waterfall, Wildlife, Woodland
16/09/2020 - John RICHARDSON

Well, we thought it was 10 miles not seven. Walk started at visitor centre as described but we failed to find point 3. There is a lot of Forestry Commission work going on and other issues which made the walk less enjoyable than it deserved to be. Using the interactive map we followed trails and rejoined the walk at point 6. We were escorted through farmyard by about 6 noisy and snappy dogs. Ours behaved impeccably. Farmer called his dogs but they took little notice. At point nine we found a locked gate and no marker posts. Very little evidence of recent walkers. The return walk ended up in newly made forestry commission roads not the nicest to walk on and the paths to the riverside were blocked by piles of newly cut timber. All in all we would not have done this walk had we known what we would find in advance. We would however recommend the visitor centre which is superb but probable best to follow their walks at the moment.