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1 GALLOWAY

INTRODUCTION

Loch Enoch and Mullwarchar (Walk 6)

Galloway is Scotland’s southwest corner, bounded by the River Nith. It’s a quiet, green country, whose bendy and bumpy country roads are good for cycling holidays. But for walkers, the heart of it is the hills around the Merrick, the summit of southern Scotland. And it feels like it – with its windy top, the longest view in the UK (you really can see Snowdon when the weather’s just right), the ridgeline called Nieve of the Spit (Walk 5), and the super spur called Little Spear. But if 843m Merrick was tough, you’re in for a shock when you get into the granite lands below – bog and bare granite underfoot, an eagle overhead, and ground that’s 50 per cent water.

And what water! Loch Enoch – it’s the Loch Avon of the Southern Uplands. It’s ‘Eskwater’, supposing Lakeland’s majestic Upper Eskdale had the lake it so richly deserves. In March the whooper swans stop off at Loch Enoch – when you’re on your way north to Iceland in one mighty flap, nowhere else quite cuts it.

Acting the goat on the granite and bog? You’re not alone – several dozen actual goats leap about on Craignaw and the Dungeon Hill (Walk 6). A bit defeated at the end of the day? You’re in good company – Robert the Bruce gave the English a bad bashing in the woods above Loch Trool.

But before the rigours of the granite, the Ayrshire coast offers a gentle day out on some very odd rocks (Walk 1), and a boat trip halfway to Arran (Walk 2).