LARG HILL
(a new route around a popular hill)

This walk has been created following the popularity of the last two years walks around this popular walking retreat.. Kirroughtree Visitor Centre provides walkers with a choice of exceptional waymarked trails, and this route is a combination of these routes interlinked using paths created for orienteer courses. Great views, not too strenuous and taken at a comfortable pace.

We initially follow the Larg Hill trail through mixed woodlands along a well defined path. This area is rich with wildlife and in particular red squirrels and we hope that our walkers will not be dissappointed by these illusive little creatures. We might need to be careful not to get a crink in our necks looking upwards!

Leaving the wood for a short while we follow a steep section of the recently upgraded Sustrans national 'Cycle Route 7'. We then continue gently climbing Larg Hill with fine views over Newton Stewart and the Minnigaff Hills of Curlyee and Millfore. Walkers who enjoyed the Minnigaff Hills Walk on Saturday will be able to see the hills in their splendour from a lowland outlook.

Having reached the high point of Larg Hill views towards Cairnsmore of Fleet open up to the north east and we will rest for a while to enjoy the vista.

We then descend along forest tracks to hidden Bruntis Loch before we pick up a short section of the Forest Drive. We pass the cairn erected in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Galloway Forest Park. The cairn is a tomb for over 60 locally associated time capsules.

The inward section of the walk follows gently undulating sections of path and tracks before opening out into typically lowland farmlands for the final section of the route. We would expect to see buzzards, red deer and a wide variety of birdlife along this section in particular so make sure you bring your binoculars.

NOTE - There are no pre-determined limits to the numbers permitted on this walk, however in the interests of safety the walk leader may restrict the total number of walkers on the day. In this event, a later departure may be offered if sufficient numbers are interested.