This picturesque and easy-going 10km circuit follows part of the Ayrshire Coastal path and was a lovely way to start the year’s adventures. Sarah had bought herself a new pair of Salomon walking boots so these needed tried out before we tackle anything bigger later in the year. It stayed dry throughout and we were surrounded by colourful countryside and great views across the Firth of Clyde to Arran.

[January 2017]

We parked the car at Portencross to begin our walk. After sorting our boots we locked the car and headed towards the castle for the first stage of our walk. The weather was pleasant and the sky was virtually cloudless, allowing great views across to Arran, Bute and Cumbrae. The path is initially across grass just above the rocky coastline, so this was a good intial test of Sarah’s new boots.

The views were superb and the going was easy, so we marched on and continued with Sarah’s gear test.

A little under a mile from the car park we reached a kissing gate, which was passed through before walking alongside Hunterston power station for a stretch. This was on tarmac so again gave another type of terrain for Sarah to test her new boots. We followed the access road for the power station for roughly 3.5km until just past Hunterston House, where we turned right to follow a cycle path to the A78 past some very picturesque farmland and wooded areas.

After a few hundred yards following the A78, we turned off the main road and followed another farm track back towards Portencross. Once again our surroundings were quiet and picturesque, making for lovely walking conditions.

We followed the road through farmland and past scattered cottages and buildings and rejoined the road to Portencross and from there it was another kilometre back to the car park to complete the circuit.

Although not strenuous at all, this was an enjoyable walk that only took us just over 2 hours, so as a test of Sarah’s boots it was pretty much perfect, giving us a few different types of terrain as well as beautiful views throughout.