Western Dumfries and Galloway: 5 outdoor activities
Often overlooked in favour of taking the fast motorway north to the Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway is a quiet and unspoiled region of Scotland. Ok, you could argue that much of Scotland is unspoiled. But you get my drift!
If you’re driving into Scotland from England, turn left at Gretna Green and keep going until you hit the western coast. It covers over 6,000 square kilometres, is home to the UK’s first Dark Sky Park, and Scotland’s National Book Town is located here. The village of Wanlockhead is the highest village in Scotland at more than 1,500 feet above sea level.
We stayed in the pretty village of Portpatrick, which is closer to Ireland than it is to the administrative centre of Dumfries. In 1854, the British Telegraph Company laid a cable under the sea between Portpatrick and Whitehead in Ireland.
We had the tail ends of hurricanes when we first arrived. Then Storm Agnes showed up with her 50mph winds! So our week was a mix of outdoor activities and sightseeing, with a big chunk of downtime where we simply curled up with our books in front of the fire.
Even though our visit was out of the tourist season, there were still plenty of things to do. Read on for five of my favourites.
Coastal walking around Portpatrick
Looking for a short walk, we headed into Portpatrick village for a wander along the coastal path to Port Mora beach. I’d not realised, but Portpatrick is the start of the Southern Upland Way, a 344-mile coast to coast walk to Cockburnspath. Maybe that’s another one to add to the list for the future 🤔
The clifftop walk to Port Mora beach is a mere blip on the Southern Upland Way! It’s only around a mile, and goes past a Grand Designs clifftop house and Dunskey Golf club. There are options to continue along the coastal path to Killantringan Lighthouse, or retrace your steps to Portpatrick.
We decided to head inland through woodland and up Dunskey Glen. This 3.57 mile Portpatrick to Port Mora beach look on Komoot covers some of our walk, but we turned off early along the top of the golf course.
Later in the week, we did the route again as a run. Wanting to extend it, we added a coastal section in the opposite direction. That took us to the fabulous ruins of Dunskey Castle. Walk Highlands has a 1.25 mile walk on their website: Dunskey Castle from Portpatrick.
Port Mora beach
Dunskey castle
Visiting Scotland’s most southerly point
The Mull of Galloway is Scotland’s most southerly point. It’s a wild and beautiful spot. We wandered around the cliff top walks and down the steps to the lighthouse foghorn. It took us right to the very tip of the cliffs overlooking the sea.
Sadly, the lighthouse wasn’t open on our visit and it was a super windy day. But we still managed to find a few places out of the wind where we could hunker down and look out to sea.
Best of all, there’s a fab little family run cafe on the cliff top you can grab a cuppa and bite to eat. The Mull of Galloway is also an RSPB reserve so a great place to take your binoculars.
Mull of Galloway
Mull of Galloway lighthouse
Wandering on the beach at Port Logan
The Logan Botanic Garden had been recommended but, short on time, we just headed into Port Logan village to take a look.
Our plan was to have a quick look at the 19th century bell tower on the harbour wall before heading home. But we couldn’t resist staying longer for a wander on the beach when two seals swam past into the bay.
It’s a lovely expanse of sand, perfect for a blustery autumn walk. And, as an extra wildlife bonus, several gannets (my favourite seabird) treated us to an aerial display as they dove for fish.
View from Port Logan bell tower
Port Logan beach
Garlieston and the Isle of Whithorn
We drove over to Wigtown one day to visit Scotland’s National Book Town. I love their story of village regeneration and annual book festival. But, being more of a wild spaces kinda person, it didn’t grab my attention as much as the villages down the coast on the Machars peninsula.
Garlieston is an 18th century village created by the 7th Earl of Galloway. It’s the closest port in Scotland to the Isle of Man and we stumbled across a surprising history. During World War II, the harbour was a trial site for the D-Day Mulberry Harbours.
It also has a wonderful cafe, The Hive, full of amazing cakes. Well worth a visit!
A few miles further down the coast is the Isle of Whithorn. The village was originally connected to the mainland by a causeway. In the late 1,700’s, houses were built on the causeway and the village now only becomes an island when there are certain weather conditions (a high spring tide with a storm from the south).
The village church has an interesting historical display, and there are memorials to commemorate seven local men who lost their lives at sea in January 2,000.
View from Garlieston village
Isle of Whithorn
Walking in Glen Trool
Glentrool is located in the Galloway Forest Park. It’s one of the Seven Stanes mountain biking centres but we headed there for a walk.
Everything pointed towards us doing the Loch Trool walk (5.5 miles) which Walk Highlands describe as one of the real gems of the Galloway Forest Park. Sadly, the full loop was closed when we visited due to harvesting works. But we linked a couple of other walks together to stay on one side of Loch Trool.
Starting at the visitor centre, we walked out to Bruce’s stone which commemorates Robert the Bruce’s Battle of Trool in 1307. Opposite the stone, on the far shores of Loch Trool, English soldiers were ambushed with a volley of stones from above. Notwithstanding the bloody history, it was a beautiful place to stop for lunch with stunning views up the valley.
Our walk back to the visitor centre took us on the Water of Trool Trail, winding our way alongside the river.
Walking from Glen Trool
Bruce’s Stone, Loch Trool
This visit was our first to this far western area of Dumfries and Galloway. On our drive home, we decided to turn off the main A75 at Newton Steward and drive through the Galloway Forest Park to New Galloway.
It looks to be an amazing area. I can see us making a return trip to explore both on foot and by bike.
We visited in late September and, as you can see from the pics, we had some glorious sunny days. But we picked our moments as there were also periods of strong winds and heavy rain. I usually say May and June are good times to visit Scotland, so maybe that’s when we’ll go back!
I’ve also only picked a handful of the things you could do in the area. If I’ve missed one of your favourites, feel free to share in the comments below.
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Outdoor-Girl is run by Jacquie Budd, an outdoor adventure and marketing content writer for brands that care about their impact on people and the planet.
