"Three days into my walk along the Rhins of Galloway coast path and I was on love-hate terms with this new long-distance trail. Unruly and at times cruel, it forced me to hurdle fences, wade through bracken up to my midriff and teased me with disappearing paths and wayward waymarks. But then, after I'd yelled profanities into the wind (there were no other hikers around to hear me), this raffishly handsome route would come over all sweetness and light."
"Look, it would simper: a dazzling and deserted white-sand bay! A ravishing spray of orchids! A crinkle of rocky foreshore be-flumped with seals! Once, moments after I'd cursed my way through a patch of Scottish jungle, a hare leapt from the sward just as a ruddy fox barred my way, a deer herd pronked down the cliffside and a buzzard mewed overhead; I felt like a sweaty Snow White summoning all the creatures at once, only by swearing rather than singing."
Walking the Rhins of Galloway coast path alternates harsh, unruly stretches—fences, deep bracken, disappearing waymarks—with moments of striking beauty such as deserted white-sand bays, orchids and seal-filled rocky foreshore. The route produces vivid wildlife encounters including hare, fox, deer and buzzard, and provokes strong emotional reactions from lone hikers. The peninsula is a remote, hammerhead-shaped extremity of south-west Scotland that receives far fewer visitors than the Highlands; in 2024 there were 1.8 million overnight visits to the Highlands versus 520,000 to Dumfries and Galloway. The trail is presented as an 83-mile, six-stage route with clear tourism potential.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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