At 843m, The Merrick is the highest mountain in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It sits amongst the rolling hills of Galloway and enjoys excellent views to the northern Lake District fells, the Isle of Man and the coast of Northern Ireland (apparently...more to follow on that!). A walk up The Merrick from Glen Trool and then a visit to Bruce’s Stone should take about 4-5 hours. The distance is 15km. It is uneven terrain with plenty of rocks to step over and it is quite wet and muddy in places with a couple of steep ascents. However, I would not really call it a challenging walk and the path is easy to find all the way to the summit. Saying this, an OS map is still essential!
The scenery on the drive out was very pleasant so we knew we were in for a treat. On the way to the car park, you pass the Glentrool Visitor Centre, which has toilets and a cafe. Check opening times for these: they were closed the day we went, but then it was November! The car park for the walk is at grid reference NX 415 805. DG8 6SU is the nearest postcode.
From the car park head north-east and take the path clearly sign-posted ‘Merrick Trail’. The path rises on the left of the Buchan Burn (photo below) and eventually reaches a gate. Pass through the gate and continue through a forested area. The path leads onto a flat, open area and passes to the left of the Culsharg bothy. The path was extremely wet in places. Good, waterproof walking books are a must. Views of the loch below were amazing (see photo).
From the bothy the path climbs through trees and reaches a forest track. Turn right, cross a bridge and almost immediately, take the path on the left which continues uphill through the forest. I love the smell of a forest and in November, of course, there is no worry about midges!
The path emerges from the forest onto open ground and continues north-west before reaching a gate. Pass through the gate and turn north-east. Keep to the right of the stone wall to reach the summit of Benyellary at 719m. Now this was where we lost the lovely views as we headed in to the mist.
From here the path continues along the broad ridge of Neive of the Spit. We met other walkers and were told that there are usually excellent views down into the bowl on the right. We could only imagine!
It was a strange feeling, walking in the mist, as we could not see the summit cairn or the trig point on The Merrick until we were on top of them (why a map is essential!).
It was a bit chilly at the top (remember this was Scotland in November!) so we took a few photos and returned quickly via the outbound route. There is a circular route but we will save that for a clearer day!
When we reached the road, we took the path on the left which was a short walk up to Bruce’s Stone.
Bruce's Stone is an enormous granite rock in the heart of the Galloway Forest Park. Its inscription reads: 'In loyal remembrance of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, whose victory in this glen over an English force in March 1307, opened the campaign of independence which he brought to a decisive close at Bannockburn'.
The walk up The Merrick and then Bruce's Stone took us just over 4 hours but we didn't hang around once up on the hill. If the views on the way up were anything to go by, I would expect the views from the ridge to be spectacular on a clear day. We need to return...
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