4 Best Sights in Newton Stewart, The Borders and the Southwest

The expansive facilities in Galloway Forest Park are evidence of the growing enthusiasm for active vacations in Scotland; it offers chances for cycling, walking, kayaking on the rivers, bird-watching, and mountain-biking. You can walk or bicycle along the paths through moorland and forests, by lochs and over hills—all contained within the 300 square miles of the forest. The Forestry Commission, which manages the forest, has three visitor centers at Glen Trool, Kirroughtree, and Clatteringshaws and also offers exhibits about the region's wildlife, a reconstructed Iron Age dwelling, and 7stanes mountain-biking centers. The forest is designated as a Dark Sky Park; the low light pollution here ensures exceptional stargazing.

In the village of Creetown seven miles outside Newton Stewart, this museum has an eclectic mineral collection, a dinosaur egg, an erupting volcano, and a crystal cave. There's also an Internet café, a tearoom, and a shop selling stones and crystals—both loose and in settings. Entry is good for two weeks.

With high purple-and-green hilltops shorn rock-bare by glaciers, and with a dark, winding loch and thickets of birch trees sounding with birdcalls, Glen Trool's setting almost looks more highland than the real Highlands. Note Bruce's Stone, just above the parking lot, marking the site where in 1307 Scotland's champion Robert the Bruce (King Robert I, 1274–1329) won his first victory in the Scottish Wars of Independence. A little road off the A714 leads through increasingly wild woodland scenery to a parking lot. The visitor center is open daily. Only after you have climbed for a few minutes onto a heathery knoll does the full, rugged panorama become apparent. Driving is really the only way to get to Glen Trool, which is part of Galloway Forest Park. From Glasgow take the A77 (about 2¼ hours). From Edinburgh take the A702 (about three hours).

Birders love the Wood of Cree Nature Reserve, managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In the reserve you can see such species as the redstart, pied flycatcher, and wood warbler. You might also spot otters and roe deer. To get there, take the minor road that travels north from Newton Stewart alongside the River Cree east of the A714. The entrance is next to a small parking area at the side of the road.