Loch Ard Forest – Lochan Spling in the Pines
About 2.6 miles on foot.
Loch Ard Forest spreads west from Aberfoyle, a forest of lochs and lochans where the Forth begins its run to the sea.
The Lochan Spling Trail is its gentle family loop, out through the trees to a quiet lochan where beavers now live. It's a relaxed hour and a half on good gravel, with a longer sculpture trail from the same car park for anyone who wants more.
- Time
- About an hour and a half: the Lochan Spling Trail, a 4.2 km (2.6 mile) loop from the Milton car park. The Sculpture Trail from the same car park is 6.7 km, about two and a half hours. A walk.
- The path
- Firm gravel with occasional mud, short steep slopes and one wide bridge.
- Where to start
- Forestry and Land Scotland's Loch Ard Forest car park at Milton, a mile west of Aberfoyle on the B829; free.
- When to go
- All year in daylight.
- Children
- A family trail; the short steep slopes make a pushchair hard work.
- Toilets
- None at the car park; public toilets in Aberfoyle.
- Before you set out
- Graded moderate by Forestry and Land Scotland.
The walk
Forestry and Land Scotland's Loch Ard Forest car park at Milton is a mile west of Aberfoyle on the B829 towards Kinlochard, signed on the left, and parking is free. There are no toilets there; the nearest are in Aberfoyle. The Lochan Spling Trail is 4.2 km, about an hour and a half, on firm gravel with some muddy patches, a few short steep slopes and one wide bridge.
It leads through the pines to Lochan Spling, where damselflies hunt over the water in summer. A family of beavers was moved into the forest in 2024, so look for gnawed trees by the water, though you may not see the beavers themselves. Red squirrels and roe deer live here too.
For a longer outing, the Sculpture Trail from the same car park is 6.7 km, about two and a half hours, with wildlife sculptures along the way. Back in Aberfoyle, the Faerie Tree on the main street serves lunch from noon every day.
If it rains
Under the trees and on firm gravel most of the way, so a fair walk in light rain; the paths get muddy in places.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Monachyle Mhor, 12 miles away.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by David Farquhar via Google