Crinan trail

If we lived a little closer to Crinan then this would be a weekly run, just loved it. The scenery is wonderful and the route itself has a nice amount of tough climb.

Heading off from the small car park the road takes you round the Crinan hotel and up past the boat yard. The first turn onto the trail looks as though you are heading into someones garden, but there is a small entrance just to the left that takes you onto the trail. This part of the trail is about long and takes you through a small car park and onto the harbour road. Wonderful views across the harbour. The road going left takes you to a short section down on the beach, about . A sign on the entrance to the house does warn to take the beach path.

After the short beach section you are on a trail that gets a bit technical in places, but in a place like this what is the hurry. The trail takes you up a steep section before landing you onto a forest road with signs for the Crinan trail. On the way up and on the forest trail it is really worthwhile to stop and take it all in. Views seem to stretch out with the islands of Jurn, Islay and Rum clearly seen.

We left the forest road, following the Crinan trail markers up the trail to the top and the few remains of Castle Dounie. The trail then leads you back to another part of the forest road and from there back down the hill to the beach.

We took the small country road section back to the car park to try and make it more of a loop, this covered . Due to where this route is and the short length it is perhaps not one to travel to, but if you are in the area for any reason then don't miss it.