From here the route takes the (quieter) road uphill out of the village, then zigzags along farm roads. The route now goes along a quiet and scenic road to the pretty village of Powmill where it drops down onto the rocky beach which it follows eastwards to Newbie. The route now meanders through the village of Newbie and follows the River Annan-side until it rejoins Dumann2. This is a long route, mostly on roads, and therefore perhaps best split over two days....

wellchoughed

Possibly we could have followed close to the river here, but it wasn’t clear and the tide was particularly high. However the views around were very nice despite the rain, and we saw many whooper swans and geese. The roads after Ruthwell were single track, and very quiet, with nice views and wildlife. Quiet lanes through Newbie and a lovely cycle track alongside the River Annan estuary brought us to the edge of Annan, then a footbridge (alongside the viaduct) and quiet streets brought us past some faded-glory buildings to the station and finishing point...

Mary Oz

One notice had suggested a diversion (with no details) but we found that the original route was easy enough to negotiate, although we had to step over a couple of low barbed wire fences at the short section involved. From here we had nearly four miles of fairly fast road with no verge, and we had to have our wits about us to keep safe, particularly near corners. Dalswinton was very nice, with a cute church, nice (but short) woods and a pretty street, with a café and bus stop. After a short section of the busy A76, with a safe pavement, we started the climb up a quiet lane with almost no vehicles. This was mostly a very good (though long) route, but the slight issues with the embankment section, and particularly the long, long, fast road from Kirkton to Dalswinton easily knocked off a star for me....

Mary Oz

From Carnshalloch House the route crosses a ditch (using a footbridge) to a smaller embankment which is followed all the way to Wellington Bridge. After Wellington Bridge, the route passes through another field and emerges near the centre of Kirkton village. The next part of the route (from Kirkton to Dalswinton Barony Church) is almost entirely along a fairly narrow road with quite a lot of traffic (at least as far as Duncow), no pavement and high verges. From there, the route again follows a (less busy) road, but quite quickly veers off onto a quiet track at Glenfoot....

wellchoughed

Via the route as mapped, you cross a railway line across an overgrown bridge – which is still passable. After this section, the route joins up with the A76 and there is a pavement however it’s a busy and noisy road so not the most pleasant to walk along....

Anna-Fleur Rawlinson

To leave Dumfries you take the route via the riverside park and castle park before making your way out into the countryside....

Anna-Fleur Rawlinson

You leave Dumfries via the riverside park and castle park before getting into country lanes....

Cressida P

On crossing the railway line, the route goes through a section of thick trees, which has a wire fence at both ends that we needed to climb over (it looked like it had been put up very recently)....

Cressida P

We had no issues with cars on this road - visibility is good and the verges are ample. The final section along the B724 becomes busier as you approach Annan, but again, the verges are good and you can anticipate any cars a good distance away....

Sarah

A good route let down by one very short tricky section. After this, the route does follow the A76 on a pavement for a short section into Auldgirth....

Sarah