Loch Trool – A Walk round the Loch to Bruce's Stone
About 5.7 miles on foot.
Loch Trool lies under the Merrick in the middle of Galloway Forest Park, with oak woods down one shore and spruce down the other.
A waymarked path goes right round it, past the slope where Robert the Bruce ambushed an English force in 1307 and the granite stone that remembers it. It's 9.2 km and about four hours, steep in places but never high.
- Time
- About four hours: Forestry and Land Scotland's Loch Trool Loop, 9.2 km right round the loch. A long, strenuous walk.
- The path
- Loose, sometimes uneven gravel over steeply rolling ground, with steps and a narrow bridge.
- Where to start
- Caldons car park at the western end of the loch, about 2.5 km beyond Glentrool Visitor Centre. Forestry and Land Scotland lists a charge only at the visitor centre car park (£1.50 for an hour, £2 for three, £4 all day; coins, card or RingGo); the Bruce's Stone car park on the north shore is free.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 11am to be round in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11am. The café and toilets at Glentrool Visitor Centre open 10.30am to 4.30pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- A long walk by deep, cold water with steep ground: older children who walk well.
- Toilets
- At the Glentrool Visitor Centre café, 2.5 km back down the glen road, in café hours only (10.30am to 4.30pm).
- Before you set out
- Steeply rolling ground with long slopes, steps, a bridge 0.9 m wide and a stretch along the road.
The walk
Forestry and Land Scotland starts its Loch Trool Loop at Caldons car park, at the western end of the loch. From the Glentrool Visitor Centre, the signs for Loch Trool and Bruce's Stone bring you to it after about 2.5 km. Forestry and Land Scotland lists a parking charge only at the visitor centre (£4 for the day, by coins, card or RingGo), and the Bruce's Stone car park on the north shore, which the loop also passes, is free. The loop is 9.2 km right round the loch, graded strenuous, and takes about four hours.
It's a gravel path over steeply rolling ground, with some long slopes, steps, a bridge under a metre wide and a stretch along the glen road. Oak woods cover the north shore, the Southern Upland Way runs through the forest on the south, and the foothills of the Merrick stand across the water. In March 1307 Robert the Bruce, with about 300 men, drew an English force of 1,500 along the steep south shore and rolled boulders down on it. Bruce's Stone, a granite boulder on a knowe, a small hill, above the north shore, remembers it and looks straight down the loch.
The only café and toilets are at the visitor centre, open 10.30am to 4.30pm, so check ahead in winter. Keep dogs under close control. From November to January, set off by 11am to be round in daylight.
If it rains
It's a low walk under trees for much of the way, so it goes in most weather with waterproofs, but four hours in steady rain is a long time. The café at the visitor centre is the place to dry off.
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.