your area guide to dunoon, argyll

The Cowal Peninsula reaches out into the Firth of Clyde, framed by Loch Fyne and Loch Long. This is the most visited part of Argyll due to its proximity to Glasgow, but, despite the summer hordes, much of it is undisturbed. Most people head straight for Dunoon, the main ferry port and one of the major Clyde seaside resorts, leaving more adventurous souls to enjoy the forests and mountains of Argyll Forest Park in the north or the peace and tranquillity of the southwest coastline.

The northern part of the peninsula is largely covered by the sprawling Argyll Forest Park which extends from Loch Lomond south to Holy Loch. This area contains the most stunning scenery in Cowal, and includes the Arrochar Alps, a range of rugged peaks north of Glen Croe which offer some of the best climbing in Argyll. The most famous of these is Ben Arthur (2,891 ft), better known as "The Cobbler, but this, and the other " Alps " are only for the more serious hill walker.

Rather less imposing are the hills south of Glen Croe, between Loch Goil and Loch Long, in an area known as Argyll's Bowling Green (not because it's flat, but an English corruption of the Gaelic Baile na Greine, meaning "Sunny Hamlet"). There are also numerous footpaths and cycle tracks threading their way through the park, and details of these can be found in the Forestry Commission leaflets available at the tourist office in Ardgarten.

Dunoon - Classic Victoriana

Dunoon today still retains a Victorian flavour, with a four-mile promenade backed by graceful Victorian villas. Facing the pier is Castle Hill, where Provost Ewing's house still stands. It's currently under conversion to a Heritage Centre.

Lower down the hill, in the Castle Gardens, stands the statue of Highland Mary, which has the same sort of significance to travellers on the Clyde as the Statue of Liberty has to New Yorkers. Mary Campbell was born at Auchamore Farm, Dunoon, the daughter of a local shipowner.

A View of the Local Area