Link Park, Auchencairn's Community Garden

Five minutes outside Castle Douglas, this community garden is exactly what it says on the tin - a modest local patch that gets tended by volunteers rather than a council groundskeeper. Link Park won't take your breath away, but it's a decent spot if you're camping nearby and fancy a gentle wander with the kids or a break from caravan life.

What you're looking at is basically a nature reserve done on a shoestring - wildflower beds, some woodland walks, and the sort of place where you might spot a robin or hear a woodpecker if you're lucky and quiet. There's no charge to have a look round, and depending on what's been planted that season, it can be quite pleasant for thirty minutes or so. Don't expect tea rooms or loos - this is about as barebone as community gardens get.

It works well if you're staying at Castle Point or Kippford View, both just a few miles off, and you want to break up a rainy afternoon. History buffs won't find much, and if your lot are after swings and slides, look elsewhere. But for a gentle potter with a notebook and some binoculars - or just getting out of the car after a long drive south - it does the job without any fuss. Easter through September is your best bet, when whatever planting they've done is actually flowering.