The Water of Trool – A Glen Walk to the Martyrs' Tomb
About 4.5 miles on foot.
The Water of Trool runs down from Loch Trool through oak and birch woods, with the Galloway hills high on either side.
A waymarked trail from the Glentrool Visitor Centre goes up the glen beside it to the Martyrs' Tomb, a small stone enclosure among the trees, and comes back through the forest. It's 7.2 km and about two and a half hours on gravel paths.
- Time
- About two and a half hours: Forestry and Land Scotland's Water of Trool Trail, a 7.2 km circuit with about 100 m of climbing. A moderate walk.
- The path
- Loose gravel with occasional uneven sections, long slopes, short steep sections and a bridge 0.9 m wide.
- Where to start
- Glentrool Visitor Centre car park, signposted from Glentrool village: £1.50 for up to an hour, £2 for up to three hours, £4 all day; coins, card or RingGo; Blue Badge holders free. DG8 6SZ is the nearest postcode.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 1pm to be back in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 1pm. The café and toilets open 10.30am to 4.30pm: check ahead in winter.
- Dogs
- Under close control; welcome in the café.
- Children
- Children who walk well: a fast river and two road crossings.
- Toilets
- At the Glentrool Visitor Centre café, in café hours only (10.30am to 4.30pm).
- Before you set out
- Loose gravel with long slopes and several short steep sections, two road crossings and a pair of bridges, one 0.9 m wide.
The walk
Park at Glentrool Visitor Centre, which is signposted from Glentrool village, off the A714 north of Newton Stewart. Parking is £1.50 for an hour, £2 for up to three hours and £4 for the day, by coins, card or RingGo, and DG8 6SZ is the nearest postcode. Forestry and Land Scotland's Water of Trool Trail is a 7.2 km circuit, graded moderate, with about 100 metres of climbing. It takes about two and a half hours.
Half of it is up the glen through oak and birch beside the river, sharing the Southern Upland Way for a stretch, with the Galloway hills high on both sides. The far point is the Martyrs' Tomb, a small walled enclosure in the old oak wood at Caldons, near the foot of Loch Trool. It remembers six Covenanters who were shot here when they were caught at prayer, in the years known as the Killing Times. The other half is through the forest, with a view down Loch Trool and a viewpoint by the Spout Head waterfall.
Underfoot it's loose gravel with a few uneven stretches, long slopes and some short steep ones, two road crossings and a bridge under a metre wide. Keep dogs under close control, and they're welcome in the café. The café and the toilets are at the visitor centre and open 10.30am to 4.30pm, so check ahead in winter. From November to January, set off by 1pm to be back in daylight.
If it rains
A low-level walk under trees for much of the way, so it goes well enough in a shower, and the river and the waterfall are fuller for it. The hills disappear in low cloud.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by paul burns via Google