Torrs Point Walk

About Torrs Point Walk

Starting at the car park in Harbour Square, Kirkcudbright, this 9 mile linear walk follows pavements on the east side of Kirkcudbright Bay with a loop out to Torrs Point. It leads along tracks and footpath and a cliff top returning through farmland and a minor road.

An alternative shorter walk of 5 miles starts at a layby on the minor road south of Mutehill where there is limited parking available. Please do not park on the track branching off the road. It is a private road and access is required at all time for emergency vehicles to reach the Lifeboat Station. This route is sign posted as: Torrs Point core path number 157 and it also starts at the Harbour Square car park and leads up St Cuthbert Street to the cross road with St Mary’s Street. Then turn right onto the A711 and follow the road out of town towards Dundrennan. Hugging the east side of Kirkcudbright Bay the body of water first seen is known as Manxman’s Lake, a bay separated from the course of the River Dee by the promontory called St Mary’s Isle. The large tidal range reveals mud and sand at low tide and the intertidal flats of Manxman’s Lake were firm enough for ships to be beached and loaded or unloaded before they re-floated when the tide came in.

At low tide the shimmering mud looks green because they are covered by an underwater meadow of seagrass. Seagrass, also known as eelgrass, is unique plant that flowers underwater and is a rare habitat as well as an important food source for ducks, geese and swans.

When the A771 turns inland continue along the minor road along the shore past the layby where there is limited parking for those who prefer a shorter walk. Take a right turn onto a track that continues past a group of houses and through the kissing gate into the woodland which in the summer is a favourite haunt of the speckled wood butterfly.

Continue along the track until you reach the lifeboat station and slipway which was constructed in 1892 to replace the first lifeboat station located in Kirkcudbright. Despite the longer journey for the crew to reach the lifeboat the new location greatly reduced the time taken to get the boat out onto the open sea.

From the lifeboat station a crushed stone path continues through the deciduous woodland passing Bathing House Bay, known locally as Lady’s Bay, where a sandy beach is revealed at low tide. As you continue along the path you will see Kirkcudbright Bay open out and catch glimpses of Little Ross island and the lighthouse.

The path narrows as it rises out of the woodland and you go through a kissing gate onto open fields. Turn right and follow the edge of the field to go through another kissing gate. Take care as you access the narrow path along the edge of the cliff. In the summer the cliff tops are covered with flowers such as the harebell and on a still day you may see a rare Northern Brown Argus butterfly with distinctive little white spots on chocolate coloured wings. At Torrs Point you will have a wonderful view of the mouth of Kirkcudbright Bay, Little Ross island and the hill of Miekle Ross behind.

Follow the cliff top with care, the dramatic drop is called Gaugers Loup and is the supposed location that the customs man was pushed to his death in the novel, Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott.

When you reach the white army lookout post at the entrance of the MOD Dundrennan Range do not go through the gate but turn left and follow an indistinct path inland until you reach a farm track where you turn left and continue through the gate. Follow the track through farmland, past a small loch, and on to a gate at a minor road. Turn left and walk past Torrs Farm and down the hill to the coast and follow the road back to your starting point.