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Corserine, Carlin's Cairn, Millfire, Milldown & Meikle Millyea anti-clockwise from Forrest Lodge

Start/Finish

Public car park at end of road to Forrest Lodge. This minor road leaves the A713 at Polharrow Bridge which is just to the north of Earlstown Loch which, itself, is just to the north of St. John's Town of Dalry. Polharrow Bridge is about 6 miles to the south of the village of Carspahairn. There are public toilets on the A713 at the north end of Carsphairn. It is about 3.5 miles from Polharrow Bridge to the car park.

Distance/Time

20 km.     About 7 - 8 hours.

Peaks

Corserine, 814 m, NX 497 870.

Carlin's Cairn, 807 m, NX 497 883.

Millfire, 716 m, NX 508 848.

Milldown, 738 m, NX 511 839.

Meikle Millyea, 748 m, NX 518 829.   Moved in 2015.  Now 2 m higher.

OS Explorer sheet 318, Galloway Forest North

Introduction

Corserine is the highest point on a long ridge known as the Rhinns of Kells which stretches from Corran of Portmark in the north to Meikle Millyea in the south with Corserine roughly halfway. With suitable transport arrangements, it is possible to walk the whole ridge but with just one car it is better to split the ridge into two sections. This route covers the southern part of the ridge. The whole ridge contains nine distinct tops but Corserine is the only Corbett and there are no Grahams on the ridge as all the other tops have less than 150 m drop on all sides. However, the ridge contains many Donalds. This is a pleasant walk which is mainly on grassy paths once the forestry is left. The paths are distinct enough to follow but it would not take much snow to hide them; they can also be quite boggy in wet weather. The route is fairly easy to follow in mist apart from on the summit of Corserine where more care is needed as the paths are not obvious from the summit. The only short steep section is on the lower ridge when descending from Meikle Millyea where care is needed on slippery ground with some exposed rock but there is nothing technical. The forestry has many more tracks than are shown on the OS map. An accurate map is displayed in the car park at the start and this has been included in the photos for those who wish to enlarge and print it. All the tracks seem to have names and there are useful signs on the outward route but few on the return. On a clear day, one can see the Merrick range, Craignaw, Dungeon Hill, Mullwharchar and the Cairnsmore of Carspahirn. Note that, following a survey in 2015, it was found that the highest point on Meikle Millyea is no longer the trig point but an embedded rock about 400 m to the south south west. This will be revisited in due course.

Route

(1) From the car park, continue the short distance to the end of the public road, just over a bridge, to the entrance to Forrest Lodge where there is a statue and plaque – well worth the very short detour. Return over the bridge and take the track, Birger Natvig Road, for Fore Bush (a house). Continue past Fore Bush to reach a fork. Take the right fork (straight on) which is signed. Continue past where the Anette Olsen Road crosses the track. About 700 m further, the track swings right and is left for a signed minor track going left, W. Follow this until a sign directs one on to a path which can be boggy in places. Follow this to a makeshift bridge which is a pipe covered with rubble. Cross over and continue on the path to another sign then continue to a stile at the edge of the forest. Cross the stile and follow the twisting path up, passing the occasional cairn. Eventually reach the ridge running from Craigrine to Corserine. Follow the ridge SW then W, passing a very large cairn then crossing almost level ground to reach a small cairn and trig point which is the summit of Corserine, 814 m. Those only interested in visiting should retrace their steps back to the start with the overall walking time being about 5 hours.

(2) Descend NE, not N, from the summit to reach a path on the edge of the corrie. Follow this down to the 708 bealach then up to the very large cairn, with a shelter cairn built in, which is the summit of Carlin's Cairn, 807 m. A herd of wild goats may be seen on this hill.

(3) Retrace to Corserine summit but be careful not to stay on the corrie edge path for too long or you will overshoot the summit. Leave the path when it starts to swing E and continue ahead to the trig point. Descend slightly E of S down easy grassy slopes. The path soon becomes obvious. Descend for about 2 km then make short ascent to a medium cairn which is the summit of Millfire, 716 m.

(4) Continue on the path, descending S then ascending, alongside a stone wall, to reach a medium cairn, on the E side of the wall, which is the summit of Milldown, 738 m.

(5) Descend SSE, still following the wall, down to the Lochans of Auchniebut then up towards the summit of Meikle Millyea. Just before the summit, a wall goes off ENE. The wall being followed then swings SSW.  The old summit is about 100 m SSE of the wall junction and is marked by the very large cairn and trig point.  The revised summit is now about 400 m SSW of here along the wall where there is supposed to be an “embedded rock” which is now the accepted summit of Meikle Millyea, 748 m. However, there are two cairns about 80 m NW of the highest point on the wall which seem to be the highest points.

(6) Descend NNE from the cairn to soon intercept the wall. A path follows the wall, sometimes crossing it. The wall goes NE before turning E. When the wall turns NE again, the path drifts left, to W of wall, and crosses a very minor top before descending towards the forest with one short, awkward section which is straightforward if taken slowly and carefully. The ground is slippery here with some exposed rocky “grooves”. The path, now well to the W of the wall, leads down to a stile after which a short, but sometimes boggy, path leads to a forestry track. Turn right and soon reach a junction; go straight on. Further on, reach a crossroads where the track is crossed by the Kristin Olsen Road. Continue ahead, roughly NNE. McAdam's Burn, so clearly labelled on the map is completely hidden in the forest to the right. Continue down the track which is called the Prof. Hans Heiberg Road although one has to go some way down before a sign is reached. Continue ahead, ignoring all side tracks. Cross the bridge over Mid Burn then soon reach the house at Burnhead. About 500 m further, reach the car park.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 28^th September, 2015.

(b) Omitting the detour to Carlin's Cairn would save about an hour.

(c) The whole ridge was walked about 20 years ago in the early 1990's.