Time – 1 – 1.5 hours
Distance – 5km/3 miles

A lovely new circular walk around the Garvald area (Garvald means ‘rough burn’ in Gaelic – Garbh-Allt), made possible through the generosity of local landowners with the help of Lottery funding. The route takes in farmland, woods and a section of dismantled railway. The walk is still in the process of being way-marked and drained – some sections are very wet, so wellies are recommended.

Route: Start/finish – Karecole Stables

The walk starts 300m on right from the right turn to Garvald as you come into Dolphinton on the A702 heading south. Park in lay-by at stable entrance (please don’t block the gates). From the stable gates [1], head NW through the gate way-marked to ‘Garvald’, passing through a short section of woodland and through another gate, then bearing slightly right to head diagonally across a field to pick up a track that runs to the right of rhododendrons. Walk along an avenue of trees, then cross a culvert to reach the Garvald road by a sharp left hand bend where a lodge house stands [2].

Turn right here and go round the bend to follow the road towards Garvald. Continue along the road past the Garvald buildings up to Garvald Home Farm. Bear left here [3] along a newly formed track (a sign points towards ‘Walton’) to reach a farm track that heads SW alongside woodland.

After 400m, to your left you’ll see the line of the old railway on the other side of fields. On reaching a gate, turn left across the field towards a clearly visible gap in the railway embankment. Pass through the gap and through a double gate, then turn left and up onto the embankment [4].

Follow the line of the railway on top on the embankment heading east. After passing through the second gate, the track becomes narrower and muddy in places. The track passes through woodland before climbing to the right up to the public road near the turning to Garvald and opposite the Tarmac quarry. Turn left here to walk 800m back down the road to the start

(photo to follow)