The Clints of Dromore – A Granite Crag and a Railway Viaduct
About 1.6 miles on foot.
Seven miles up the valley from Gatehouse of Fleet, a nature reserve lies under a long wall of grey granite called the Clints of Dromore.
A short waymarked round sets out from its visitor centre across moor and boardwalk and comes back along an old railway line. The twenty arches of the Big Water of Fleet Viaduct stand over the river close by, in a glen with hardly a house in it.
- Time
- About an hour: a waymarked round of 2.5 km, or a mile and a half.
- The path
- Hard track, boardwalk and rough grass paths, with steps. Stout shoes.
- Where to start
- The car park at the Cairnsmore of Fleet National Nature Reserve visitor centre at Dromore, on the B796 seven miles from Gatehouse of Fleet.
- When to go
- All year in daylight.
- Dogs
- Under close control: sheep graze here and grouse nest on the moor.
- Children
- A short round for children who can manage steps and rough grass. Not for pushchairs.
- Before you set out
- Boardwalk, rough grass and steps. The ground off the path is bog.
The walk
Park at the visitor centre of the Cairnsmore of Fleet National Nature Reserve at Dromore, seven miles from Gatehouse of Fleet on the B796, which is signed for the reserve from the town. The council's walk from here, the In-bye Walk, is a waymarked round of 2.5 km, or a mile and a half, and takes about an hour. It sets out past the old byre that houses the visitor centre and crosses the in-bye, the fields nearest the farm, where sheep are gathered for lambing and shearing. The Clints of Dromore are above you the whole way round, a long, rugged outcrop of granite rising out of the heather.
Out on the valley floor the rounded hummocks are drumlins, heaps of debris dropped by the glaciers. A boardwalk carries you over boggy ground where sundew, a plant that eats insects, grows among the rushes. The way back is along the bed of the old railway from Castle Douglas to Portpatrick, which opened in the early 1860s and closed in 1965. Its viaduct over the Big Water of Fleet stands close by: twenty granite arches, 900 feet long and 70 feet high, on piers that were cased in red brick from 1926 to strengthen them.
The last stretch follows the river, where dippers work the stones. The going is hard track, boardwalk and rough grass, with some steps, so wear stout shoes and leave the pushchair behind. Sheep graze here and grouse nest on the moor, so keep dogs under close control. Watch for wheatears and meadow pipits in the heather, and for a peregrine or a merlin overhead.
If it rains
It's only an hour, with a firm track and a boardwalk for much of the way, so a waterproof will see you round in light rain. In low cloud the Clints disappear, though the viaduct in mist is a sight of its own.
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.