As you meet the coastline at Ballantrae, Ailsa Craig looms into view over the clifftops, with the toes of the Sleeping Warrior of Arran just visible in the distance behind.

Five days later, after scrambling along rugged shorelines, strolling sandy beaches, and exploring ruined castles, the Warrior's head is hidden behind the hills of Bute. The Craig has long since disappeared from view.

Such is the majesty of the panorama which will be on offer to the walkers on Scotland's newest long distance walking route - the Ayrshire Coastal Path.

The route - from Glenapp Kirk to Skelmorlie - links up 101 miles of beaches, tracks and clifftops, to create a journey never before possible.

Their ultimate aim is to link the path to the Southern Upland Way and the West Highland Way - creating a single continuous pathway across Scotland.

The walk is the legacy of 67-year-old Alistair Tyre and his band of retired volunteers from Ayr Rotary Club. For the last two years, this dedicated bunch have been out every spare day, digging paths up steep bankings, clearing waste, adding distinctive green waymarkers and introducing 61 "kissing" gates to make farmland accessible.

"It started as one man's vision to build a simple path linking up Troon with the Heads of Ayr," said Mr Tyre, a retired headmaster, from Prestwick.

"But once we began talking to local people and landowners it became obvious there was potential to create something much bigger - something really quite unique."

The group set up a fundraising charity - Ayr Rotary Coastal Path Group - and spent two years securing the co-operation of farmers along the coast, who Mr Tyre said have been "overwhelmingly supportive", as have the many pubs, guest houses and tourist attractions in the towns and villages en route.

The team will finish off the pathway by June, when it will officially open with a charity event, featuring 500 walkers. They are announcing the pathway today to co-incide with World Rotary Day - the 103rd anniversary of the international humanitarian and peacebuilding organisation.

Plans are already afoot to link up to the Southern Upland Way, by extending the path southwards to Stranraer. To the north, they hope to continue the path around the Greenock Cut and on to the Forth Clyde Canal - allowing walkers access on to the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way beyond.

"The vision is that one day you begin walking at Eyemouth and finish at Inverness. I'm sure there are people out there who would be daft enough to do it," quips Jimmy Begg, the project co-ordinator.

"But this path is equally suitable to the day tripper - offering short five-mile stretches which everyone can enjoy on their days off. We want to open up the coastline to everyone."

In terms of the terrain, beaches make up 30 miles of the route - including the flat sands at Troon and Ayr, but Mr Begg said the majority of coastline is rugged enough to challenge the serious walker.

"There are some easy stretches, and some not so easy - scrambling over rocks covered by limpets, or climbing up steep banks over the clifftops. It's not so much a path as a route."

Mr Begg said the route offered the walker "a total history of the Ayrshire coastline, - from the ancient geology, to the social history of the industrial revolution."

As well as castles at Culzean and Dundonald, the route passes through the charming fishing villages of Dunure and Maidens.

Mr Tyre hopes the path will encourage young people out of the towns to enjoy the coastal scenery and native wildlife - seals, deer, hawks, and curlews.

"I'd like to see my grandson walking down this coastline. I'd like to see him coming home and saying, mum - we just saw an otter today. Grandad showed us a heron'.

"Not just my grandchildren, everybody's - people from all over the world."