Overnight stops can be arranged in small market towns and villages along the route such as Moffat, Johnstonebridge, Lochmaben, Lockerbie, or Annan.

The northernmost point of the walk is marked by a commemorative cairn at the head of the Tweedhope Burn in the saddle between Spout Craig and Chalk Ridge Edge (OS.

Heading south from Moffat the Annandale Way joins the Southern Upland Way briefly near the village of Beattock, beyond which it passes through ancient oak forests and over farmland down the valley to near Templand, where again there is a choice of alternative routes.

When gaining access to the cairn at the northern end of the Annandale Way by approaching it along the valley floor northward from Moffat, the route starts to ascend eastward just before it arrives at Corehead.

The route as you ascend is filled with trees planted by the Borders Forest Trust[5] since they took over ownership of 640 hectares of land at Corehead in the summer of 2009.

Their mission statement reads, "The hills and valleys of Corehead were once covered in the native woodland and wild habitats of the Ettrick Forest.

Due to centuries of intensive grazing the land is now bare and only small pockets of heather moorland and native woodland remain.

The Trust plans to return these lost habitats to the land of Corehead and restore a core area of the wild Ettrick Forest to the south of Scotland."

Taking some time to study Upper Annandale in the "Moffat & St Mary's Loch" map will show that this area is rich in Iron Age settlements.

[10] This establishment was originally set up in 1987 to provide help for misused, abused, unwanted and neglected horses and ponies as well as to offer help for young people with physical and mental problems.

They faced a major, but ultimately, successful battle with the authorities during the British outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 because of their resolve to save their animals from incineration.

[15] The inscription on this monument reads, "In Memory of Joe Graham for many years huntsman of the Dumfries Shire fox hounds who died in 1893 at the age of 80 and now he has gone far far away we shall never hear his voice in the morning".

Many stories attempt to explain its construction but all conclude that the word "Repentance" which is inscribed above the door suggests that the tower was built to make amends for some act of treachery.

Although the structural evidence of the castle has long since been removed the large mound (motte) on which the fort was built and the lower protective enclosure (bailey) with its defensive man-made cliff face is still there to be seen and the Way passes very close by.

The original peel, built of earth and timber, was strengthened by Richard Siward Sheriff of Dumfries and builder of Tibbers Castle in Nithsdale.

For over 300 years Lochmaben Castle held a key defensive position controlling access northwards through Upper Annandale and westwards into Galloway.

The significance of this point in the story is that in February 1306 after killing the John Comyn in the church of the Greyfriars monastery in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce was making his way to Glasgow to seek absolution from the Bishop there and support for his bid to be King of Scotland when in the hills near Ericstane he met James Douglas who was bringing a message of support from the Bishop of St Andrews to Bruce.

Here (at the home of his sister Mrs Thomas Halliday) was mustered the small devoted band who struck the first blow for Scotland's freedom from England" Download coordinates as: