The largest natural loch in the Scottish Borders, five kilometres long, in the hills between Selkirk and Moffat on the A708.
There's a deep calm about St Mary's Loch, and on a still day the dark forestry and green hills of the Yarrow valley lie mirrored in the water.
In spring the broom flowers yellow by the shore, and sheep graze on the grass beside the water. At the south end, a thin strip of land keeps the loch apart from the smaller Loch of the Lowes. On the hillside above stands a white statue of James Hogg, the poet known as the Ettrick Shepherd. He looks out over both lochs from what was one of his favourite spots. From here the Southern Upland Way follows the wooded eastern shore, on its way over the hills to Traquair. Between April and September, the Glen Cafe close to the statue is the place for tea and home baking once you are back.
Arrives at 5am every day.
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The Ring of St Mary's Loch is a full circuit of the water, using paths and tracks in place of the road wherever there is a choice.
The car park, the public toilets and the Glen Cafe are together at the south end of the loch.
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James Hogg's statue above the loch was unveiled on 28 June 1860. Born at Ettrick in 1770, Hogg was working on the land as a boy and largely taught himself. He went on to write poems and novels, and Sir Walter Scott was his friend.
When her husband died in 1824, Tibbie Shiel took in lodgers at St Mary's Cottage, two rooms and a loft looking over the south end of the loch, to keep her six children. Hogg, Scott and Wordsworth all came, and she lived to 95.
Shinglehook, at the edge of the loch, is Matt Baker's sculpture in oak, and it makes a seat by the water where you can stop and look out at the hills.
The church of St Mary's of the Lowes, the Kirk in the Forest, is long gone, and only its gravestones look out over the loch. Late each July a 'blanket preaching' is held among them, for the Covenanters who once had to hold their services out of doors.
New places, news and stories, as we find them.
What is on in Scottish BordersAt the head of the Yarrow valley, TD7 5LH.
The Gordon ArmsA family-run restaurant with rooms in an old coaching inn in the Yarrow Valley, with seasonal Borders cooking and just seven tables.4 miles 13 min by road
Loch SkeenThe highest loch in the Southern Uplands, holding Britain's rarest fish.11 miles 22 min by road
Traquair HouseScotland's oldest inhabited house, near Innerleithen, home of the Stuarts since 1491, visited by 27 monarchs, with its own brewery and maze.12 miles 27 min by road
Grey Mare's TailSixty metres of water off a hanging valley, on the road from Moffat to Selkirk.12 miles 23 min by road
Kailzie GardensGardens near Peebles, with a walled garden, restored glasshouses, woodland walks by the Kailzie Burn and a laburnum arch.17 miles 36 min by road
MoffatA spa town with a broad street, a ram with no ears and the narrowest hotel there is.21 miles 36 min by road
Stobo KirkA small church near Peebles, much of it built around 1120, on a site said to go back to St Mungo, who is said to have baptised Merlin nearby.24 miles 47 min by road
Dawyck Botanic GardenOne of the world's great arboretums, near Stobo in the Tweed valley, part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, with rare trees from around the world.26 miles 51 min by roadPlaces to stay near the loch, and when each is next free.
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