A walk · Dunblane

Dunblane – A Loop by Kippenrait Glen and the Allan Water

Two old ways link Dunblane and Bridge of Allan through the woods: the Glen Road, high on the side of Kippenrait Glen, and the Darn Walk, down by the Allan Water.

Walked one after the other they make a loop from Dunblane's cathedral, and a fish and chip café in Bridge of Allan, halfway round, is the place for lunch.

The walk

Park at The Haining, beside Dunblane Cathedral, where this loop of 8.5 km (5.3 miles) starts and finishes. It takes two and a half to three and a half hours, with 175 metres of climbing. Sturdy shoes are best, as the paths can be muddy and the ground uneven.

The way out is the Glen Road, which climbs gently from the town and, beyond a set of bollards, has been closed to cars since landslips in 1987. Volunteers keep it open for walkers and cyclists. Dunblane's community council expects timber lorries on the Glen Road, three a day for six months, so keep an eye out for them.

The road crosses the Wharry Burn on an old stone bridge and winds through the woods of Kippenrait Glen, much of which is thought to have been wooded since the last ice age, before it drops into Bridge of Allan.

If it rains

The walk is out of doors all the way, much of it under the trees, so bring waterproofs on a wet day; lunch is under a roof.

Afterwards

9 min on foot
The Allanwater Café
Lunch
The walk comes down to Blairforkie Drive at the north end of Bridge of Allan, and from there the Allanwater Café is 9 minutes' walk down on Henderson Street, which adds about 1.3 km (0.8 mile) there and back. The café opens at 11am and is closed on Tuesdays, and its chip shop opens at noon; both close at 8pm. The menu is fish and chips, with haddock in three sizes, alongside breakfasts and filled rolls, and there's home-made ice cream to finish.
About 27 min on foot
The Darn Walk
The Darn Walk starts from Blairforkie Drive and keeps to the east bank of the Allan Water, a narrow path through woods by the river, with steps down into a gully and footbridges over the burns. It follows much the same line as the Darn Road, an old track said locally to go back to the Romans. Beside the path is a cave in the bank. Robert Louis Stevenson spent childhood summers in Bridge of Allan and wrote of walking the Darn Walk, and the cave is said to be the model for Ben Gunn's cave in Treasure Island. A carved bench beside it plays on the story. The path finishes along the edge of Dunblane's golf course and comes out on the main road, which needs care to cross, a short walk from the cathedral.