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A walk · Maybole

Culzean – The Lion Trail by the Ruined Arch and the Castle

About 1.9 miles on foot.

Culzean Castle

Culzean's country park covers woods, gardens and nearly three miles of cliff and shore on the Carrick coast, and four waymarked trails set out from Home Farm.

The Lion Trail packs the most of the grounds into an hour: the Ruined Arch, the Walled Garden, the end of the Swan Pond and the castle above the sea.

Time
About an hour: the Lion Trail, a waymarked round of 1.9 miles (3 km). The Whale Trail by the shore is 2.5 miles (4.1 km) and an hour and a half.
The path
Moderate, on the park's paths and drives. The Whale Trail is strenuous, and its way along the beach depends on the tide.
Where to start
Home Farm car park, by the visitor centre, where the trail starts.
When to go
All year, in daylight.
Dogs
Welcome under close control in most of the park; on a lead in the Walled Garden, the Fountain Court gardens, the car parks and on the drives.
Children
Two adventure playgrounds by the Swan Pond, one for under-fives and one for five and over.
Toilets
At Home Farm, the castle, the Walled Garden and the Swan Pond, with accessible toilets and baby changing.
Before you set out
Home Farm has a café and a shop, and there are picnic tables in the grounds.

The walk

Park at Home Farm, the old estate farm that is now Culzean's visitor centre. The country park charges for entry and keeps its own hours, so check both before going. The Lion Trail is a waymarked round of 1.9 miles from here, about an hour.

It soon reaches the Ruined Arch, built as a ruin in 1780 for the grand approach, with the castle framed in it beyond the viaduct. The trail goes on by the Camellia House and the Walled Garden, out through the woods to the Ice House at the end of the Swan Pond, and back past the West Green and the Battery. It comes home across the castle's front, where old cannons stand on a terrace above the Firth of Clyde.

There are some steps, and an accessible route for anyone who needs one. From mid October to March expect mud and wet leaves underfoot, and dusk by late afternoon. For more, the Whale Trail is 2.5 miles and an hour and a half, a harder round by the shore over sand and rock.

If it rains

The woods give some cover. On a wet day the Swan Trail is the short one, 0.7 miles on the flat round the Swan Pond, which has a car park of its own.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    None of ours is close by: the nearest is Talli House, 29 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov.

Find out more

For further reading, before you go.