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Galloway Forest Park
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Newton Stewart is a popular base for hikers and cyclists heading for the nearby
Galloway Forest Park,
Britain's largest forest park, which stretches all the way from the southern part of Ayrshire right down to Gatehouse of Fleet, laid out on land owned by the Forestry Commission. Many hikers aim for the park's
Glen Trool
by following the A714 north for about ten miles to Bargrennan, where a narrow lane twists the five miles over to the glen's Loch Trool. The Forestry Commission
Caldons
A
campsite
(tel 01671/840218,
; Easter-Sept) sits in the woods close to the western edge of the loch. From here, there's a choice of magnificent
hiking
and
cycling
trails, as well as lesser tracks. Several longer routes curve round the grassy peaks and icy lochs of the Awful Hand and Dungeon ranges, whilst another includes part of the Southern Upland Way, which threads through the Minnigaff Hills to Clatteringshaws Loch.
A twenty-mile stretch of the A712 from Newton Stewart east to New Galloway, known as the
Queen's Way,
cuts through the southern periphery of Galloway Forest Park, a landscape of glassy lochs, wooded hills and bare, rounded peaks. You'll pass all sorts of
hiking trails,
some the gentlest of strolls, others long-distance treks. For a short walk, stop at the
Grey Mare's Tail Bridge,
about seven miles east of Newton Stewart, where the Forestry Commission has laid out various trails, all delving into the pine forests beside the road, crossing gorges, waterfalls and burns. A few miles further on is
Clatteringshaws Loch,
a reservoir surrounded by pine forest, with a fourteen-mile footpath running right round. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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