Walk: Around & across the Mull of Ross

📌 Borgue, Dumfries & Galloway
★★★

This headland (not to be confused with the Ross of Mull in western Scotland!) marks the southern tip of the peninsula extending south from Gatehouse of Fleet. Its remote coastline features both sandy and rocky bays, sheer cliffs, seabird colonies and nearby cows… lots and lots of cows. Little Ross island sits just offshore, and was the scene for the murder of a lighthouse keeper in 1960; the lighthouse was automated soon after. Views from the southeast part of the circuit are spectacular, but elsewhere there is some rough ground to cross and navigation is surprisingly tricky for what is essentially a waymarked coastal walk.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at Rockvale, east side of Brighouse Bay, 2 mi south of Borgue

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NX 638454

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 54.785012,-4.119272

🚌 Infrequent bus to Brighouse Bay Caravan Park (0.5 mi across bay)

🚗 Car park

📝 Key info

▶ 7 km / 4 mi | ▲ 180 m | ⌛ 2.5-3 hr

Features: 🏖️ Brighouse Bay; 🌊 Mull of Ross coastline

⬤⬤ Moderate to Tough | Mixed coastal terrain, usually on grass, sometimes with a path, some overgrown / rocky stretches. Fields & track for return. Unprotected cliff edges around Ree of Ross. Navigation skills needed: route generally waymarked, but some areas where signposts are missing.

➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: start & Brighouse Bay – Mull Point – Fauldbog Bay – Ree of Ross coastline – Blackstone – Ross Farm – start

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: Nesting cormorants, guillemots, gulls, oystercatchers & a peregrine falcon around Ree of Ross. Seal at Fauldbog Bay. Several hares, pheasants. Caterpillar infestations covering gorse bushes with dense webs. Lots of cows / calves directly on route.

Weather: Slightly hazy sunshine with temperature in high teens, intermittently breezy.

June 2023