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Corserine Quickie 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

10 km.     About 4 – 5 hours.

Peaks

Corserine, 814 m, NX 497 870.    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 is for those who only wish to ascend Corserine. 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 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 Carsphairn.

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 isgn 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.

(2) Retrace back to the start taking care to locate the path from the large cairn.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 16^th October, 2016.

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