Southern Upland Way: Glen Trool

Tuesday 23rd May 2023

My overnight wild camp, before this walk, was on rather tussocky ground with many branches and roots in the way, but with several subtle movements of my tent I somehow managed to find a position that was really quite comfortable. However, when I got up in the morning I was plagued by midges. I had never done any walking in the Southern Uplands before this holiday, so in my naivety I assumed that the highland midge is only found in the Highlands, but I soon found that this is not the case, although at this point in my holiday there was not a huge amount. I had difficulty finding somewhere to camp the previous night so I had continued walking for longer than I wanted to, though one advantage of where I eventually did stop was that less than a kilometre away was the Riverside Newton Stewart holiday cottages which offer free water refills from their outside tap. I took advantage of this facility a few times and I returned to Riverside again at the start of this day to refill my water bottles once more before restarting my trek on the road along the Southern Upland Way. There is rather a lot of road walking on the trail so it is best not to be using heavy walking boots, fortunately my boots were light. After passing through the hamlet of Knowe I eventually came off the road and into a lovely wood that, despite being clearly commercial, was quite open with many young trees while bluebells lined the path and the Hills of Galloway could be seen ahead which promised exciting things to come.

All too soon this great path came to a road and after a stretch along the road I branched off to climb Glenvernoch Fell while Loch Ochiltree revealed itself to my left. Gorse decorated the western slopes as I climbed with little or no path to a trig point where the view across the fell towards the Galloway Hills drew me on across the often boggy hillside where the indistinct route was marked by yellow-topped posts. The largely pathless walking across moorland continued until I finally reached the River Cree and the foot of the hills. A fun, narrow path weaved around trees and over roots as I slowly followed the river south and provided me with a delightful but strenuous walk until eventually my fun ended and I turned away from the River Cree. Soon I headed into gorgeous woodland scenery along excellent footpaths lined with stitchwort and bluebells beside the Water of Minnoch where I knew that there is a secret hoard of coins in a kist, one of thirteen on the Southern Upland Way. After a while the word “ultreia” appeared on a trail post which revealed that the kist was ahead and soon, just off the path, I found the beautifully sculptured kist. Beyond that point I had a fabulous walk through delightful woodland on a narrow path between swathes of bluebells that had me constantly clicking away with my camera as I very slowly made my way through the beautiful displays. In fact there were so many bluebells I started to get fed up with them, as if that was possible.

When I came to a bridge over the Water of Trool, I turned off the Southern Upland Way to pass even more bluebells and reach the Glentrool Visitor Centre where I took advantage of their facilities to have something to eat and refill my water bottles. Since leaving Castle Kennedy at the start of the previous day, I had hardly seen another soul so this visitor centre felt like rather a startling reintroduction to civilisation and I had still not been through any settlements larger than a couple of houses. After a rest I returned past the bluebells to the Southern Upland Way where I continued beside the Water of Trool, though I soon left all the bluebells behind. The walking was still thoroughly enjoyable as I made my way through Glen Trool until I reached a bridge at Caldons where there used to be a campsite and I have heard that it is still a good place to wild camp so I had planned to stop there. However, thanks to my extended walk the day before I was a couple of hours ahead of schedule so I had decided to keep going to the White Laggan Bothy. But my onward route along the Southern Upland Way was brought to a halt by signs that said the footpath south of Loch Trool was closed due to forestry operations so I was directed to the north of the loch.

The diversion took me past the Calgons car park and along a lovely path through gorgeous woodland with glimpses into Loch Trool and soon brought me onto a road where the walking was tedious and quite strenuous as it climbs above Glen Trool Lodge. The road undulated wearily until it finally stopped beside Bruce’s Stone, which I wouldn’t have seen if I’d been on the trail so I took advantage of the opportunity to admire the view across Loch Trool, unfortunately the patchy sunlight that I had enjoyed over lunchtime had now been smothered by cloud. Beyond the end of the road my way continued along a track that afforded me with better views over Loch Trool while the forestry operations that had forced my diversion could be seen on the other side as I slowly descended through woodland to finally rejoin the proper route of the Southern Upland Way. My map promised me that there is an alternative route up the valley on the northern slopes but there didn’t seem to be much of a path and it would be a lot easier for me to stay on the wide forestry track. Since I had not been on the official route earlier and I was feeling tired at this time in late afternoon, I decided to stick to the proper route. The track relentlessly climbed to the head of glen into what I have read is the wildest part of the Southern Upland Way, so I was keen to take in the views.

Merrick, the highest hill in Scotland, south of the central belt, lies just to the north of Glen Trool, but I had no inclination to go up to the top of any of the Hills of Galloway and I was happy to just keep to the trail at the bottom of the valley. Once I was at the top of the pass the views opened out to the shallow valley beyond and across Loch Dee in a scene that was exquisite in its untamed, wild beauty. The wide track slowly took me around the southern slopes above the loch and eventually brought me to the White Laggan Bothy. Despite overcast conditions for much of this day, especially in the afternoon, the walking into the Galloway Hills was fabulous especially past all the bluebells that I saw on this walk. I had planned on doing the Southern Upland Way in late summer which would have given me heather in bloom, but the benefit of coming in May far outweighs that and I am glad that I did as I love bluebells and Glen Trool is one of the best places in the country to see them.