Lovely views, lovely sunshine, lots of wildlife, babbling river sounds. Leaving the castle and its manicured grounds we followed more quiet roads until reaching the A702, which was a fast, fairly busy road without much verge, but with good sightlines. I’d like to have given this route four and a half stars, it was all lovely except for the (unfortunate) detour and the short section of fast road....

Mary Oz

Leaving New Cumnock there was a long haul up a quiet road, but with increasingly good views looking behind us and to the side. Opposite the station, a footbridge over the River Nith took us onto suburban paths, then onto quiet country roads (with the occasional tractor belting along) through pretty countryside with nice views....

Mary Oz

The route follows a paved country lane out of New Cumnock, which eventually becomes a well-maintained track that rises gently to the top of the hill....

Cressida P

The route leaves New Cumnock on a quiet road via Castle (A76) – before turning right on Pathhead. After walking through a couple of fields the route returns back to the forestry track....

Anna-Fleur Rawlinson

I walked this route with one other person on a lovely, sunny day in September 2024. Thereafter the route continues along a quiet road which stays fairly close to the river except for a diversion inland to cross Burnsands Burn at Burnmouth Bridge (at which point the metalled surface is temporarily replaced by a tractor track through pasture fields populated by numerous pheasants and a few turkeys). There are wonderful views down to the river as the route passes through lovely, wooded scenery on its way into the Drumlanrig Estate....

wellchoughed

Review of Slow Way route Newcsan2 (New Cumnock to Sanquhar Two). The road descends to the A76 and the route follows this for a short distance (on pavement) before entering Kirkconnel. After passing through the village and neighbouring Kelloholm, the route follows a relatively quiet country road (beware fast-moving farm traffic) all the way to Blackaddie Bridge....

wellchoughed

There is a short stetch along the A road, but there is a pathway, and then once into Kirkconnel and Kelloholm, the route passes through straightforward housing lanes to reach a pleasant country road with nice views of fields, winding its way down to Sanquhar....

Sarah

We continued through the grounds onto the road into Thornhill – there is a small section of road without a verge when you cross the river but sightlines are good....

Anna-Fleur Rawlinson

We walked south from Sanquhar via lanes until joining up with a track that runs alongside the River Nith, which included some woodland with good shady cover on the hot day....

Cressida P

Right at the end, there is one small 200m section on a road without a verge, but the sightlines are good enough for it to be safe....

Sarah

Follows in the most part the Southern Uplands Way route, but without going in to Beattock. Easy to navigate and in clear weather, stunning views. Also includes a lot of forest trails...

Tim Ryan

Nice route over the hills using a mixture of tracks, an old drove road and quiet lanes. No facilities along the way so users need to be self sufficient....

Skyerib