Craigbirnoch NW Cairn is located on a knoll in open boggy moorland c. 450 yards NE of a passing place (NX 17641 69180) on the New Luce to Barrhill single-track road in Dumfries and Galloway. The grassy round mound measures c. 12 yards in diameter and 5 feet high. The cairn is intact except for a quarry pit in the N half of the mound. There are only a few visible small stones on the surface of the cairn, embedded in the centre. Craigbirnoch NW Cairn is listed as Canmore ID 61367.
Craigbirnoch NW Cairn is one of a cluster of cairns E of Craigbirnoch Farm. Craigbirnoch NE Cairn is located c. 100 yards ESE of Craigbirnoch NW Cairn.