The Dee Walk – Kirkcudbright to Telford's Bridge at Tongland
About 4.7 miles on foot.
The tidal Dee runs out of Kirkcudbright past reed beds and riverside woods to a bridge Thomas Telford built at Tongland.
The council's walk follows it there and back, almost level all the way, with wading birds on the mud and now and then an otter. It's 7.5 km and about two and a half hours.
- Time
- About two and a half hours: 7.5 km from Harbour Square to Tongland Bridge and back, with a short loop at the far end. A level walk.
- The path
- Park paths, a flood bank, earth and grass woodland paths with kissing gates, and a roadside pavement.
- Where to start
- The Harbour Square car park in the middle of Kirkcudbright; no charge.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 12.30pm to be back in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 12.30pm. The winter ducks are on the river from late autumn.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- Level and easy, but long for small legs, beside a tidal river.
- Toilets
- Public toilets by Harbour Square.
- Before you set out
- Earth and grass paths that can be muddy; a stretch of roadside pavement by the power station.
The walk
Park at the Harbour Square car park in the middle of Kirkcudbright, where there's no charge and the public toilets are close by. The council's walk from here is 7.5 km out to Tongland Bridge and back, almost level, and takes about two and a half hours. The Dee Walk begins in the riverside park, runs along a flood bank above low fields and ends in riverside woodland. The river is tidal all the way.
Its mud, and the reed beds where the Tarff Water comes in, bring oystercatchers, curlews, redshanks and herons, goldeneye and tufted duck in the colder months, a cormorant almost always, and now and then an otter. Across the water stands Cumstoun House, a private house with the ruin of a 15th-century tower in its grounds. Tongland Bridge is Thomas Telford's. Its first foundations, laid in 1804, were washed away, and it opened in 1808 at a cost of about £7,000, with tall flood arches on each approach because the tide here rises some 20 feet.
A short loop beyond it passes under the old railway arch and by Tongland power station before the same path leads home. The paths are earth and grass with kissing gates and can be muddy, and one stretch is on a roadside pavement. Keep dogs under close control. From November to January, set off by 12.30pm to be back in daylight.
If it rains
Level and low, so it goes in most weather with a coat and boots; the paths are muddy after rain.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.