Heading north on the A92 from Montrose, you cross the River North Esk on a viaduct. This brings us into the historic county of Kincardineshire (also known as The Mearns). After rounding a tight bend, take the narrow road branching immediately right, signed for St Cyrus Beach. We pass beneath the abandoned railway viaduct that also spans the river. After almost a mile and a half, we reach St Cyrus Nature Reserve. Toilets and a small visitors centre are located next to the car park. You can pick up a leaflet outing the mile-long circular Tyrie Trail which winds its way around the land situated between the cliffs and beach. More information about the reserve can be found on this PDF file.
Follow the waymarked route from the visitors centre in a clockwise direction. You soon pass an old icehouse previously used to store salmon but now converted to a sunken private residence. Rocky crags rise to your left and the path passes through grassland alive with insects and birds. We encounter an old graveyard before a red marker post instructs us to swing right. Watch out for this as a stony path does continue alongside the cliffs, eventually climbing steeply up to St Cyrus village. We are now doubling back towards the car park. You can't miss a long narrow wooden bridge leading away to the left. It actually crosses the old bed of the North Esk and a path continues over the dunes to the beach. The river carved a more direct path to the sea during a violent storm in 1879. The bridge route offers an optional extension to the walk. Up in the village, the Old Bakery offers an excellent range of refreshments.
