Walk: A Fairlie good Glen

📌 Fairlie, North Ayrshire
★★★

A couple of miles short of the town of Largs, the railway line along the Ayrshire coast plunges into a long tunnel under the steep ground of Fairlie village. Head uphill from the tunnel entrance (there’s plenty of parking and a railway station nearby) and you can follow the verdant folds of Fairlie Glen to the local castle: ruined but undergoing extensive restoration at the time of writing. Despite the ugly groundworks and scaffolding, you can see the original owners chose well when selecting a defensive site. To the north are uninterrupted views over the lower slopes of the Whatside Hills, while to the south the burn runs through a series of constricted canyons with dozens of waterfalls, preventing unwanted access from this side. Several picturesque cascades are safely visible for today’s explorers without getting onto risky ground, with the most impressive, upper fall reached by a low-risk but muddy scramble up a vegetated crag.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at Fairlie railway station

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NS 210546

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.752039,-4.854087

🚆🚌 Train / bus to Fairlie

🚗 Street parking next to station car park

📝 Key info

▶ 2 km / 1 mi | ▲ 80 m | ⌛ 45 min

Features: 🌊 Fairlie Glen waterfalls ★★★; 🏰 Fairlie Castle

⬤ Moderate | Clear paths and tracks with steady ascent and some mud (boots or wellies recommended). Last section of path to final waterfall (optional) is a short but steep and slippery scramble on mud (⬤ Tough).

➡️ Out-and-back walk: start – corner of Burnfoot Road – path along north bank of Fairlie Burn via Fairlie Castle to main waterfall at 🧭 NS 218547 – return by outward route

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: Sheep in fields, grey wagtails nesting on the gorge cliffs.

Weather: Hazy sunshine, about 10°C, but remnant snow patches from a couple of weeks ago.

March 2018

Fairlie Glen waterfalls ★★★