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KNOCKEANS HILL AND BALLOCH WOOD
Note: This walk is also repeated on Sunday 13th May
2007
This walk acts as your perfect introduction to the
area as it includes a varied mix of landscape and
a few surprises along the way. The first of these
is our starting point, the village square in Creetown,
which has been transformed into a performance area
sculpted from the stone the village is famous for
- granite.
We start by climbing out of the village along a wooded
farm track past the church. As we climb out of the
mixed woodland we continue along a grassy path and
into open farmland. Views of Wigtown Bay start to
open up before us as we join an old track which links
Creetown and the nearby granite quarries, which was
used by workers on a daily basis many years ago.
After a short time we branch off this track to head
for our first peak of the day - Larg Hill (276 metres)
across open hill land. From here we get great views
north up the valley of the river Cree towards Newton
Stewart and many of the hills which will feature in
the festival later in the week, the most prominent
of which is Cairnsmore of Fleet. To the west is the
low lying rolling pastureland of the Machars peninsula
while to the south the salt marshes of Wigtown Bay
open up to provide an attractive panorama.
From the cairn on the top of Larg, we head north
west for the short hop over to Knockeans Hill (297
metres), the highest point of the day. From the summit
of Knockeans views open up to the north east towards
the largely uninhabited heart of the southern Galloway
hills.
We then drop down the northern flanks of Knockeans
to the Corse of Slakes road which links Creetown and
Skyreburn. We follow this minor road for a short distance
until we come across a set of ponds which have been
developed as part of the Balloch Wood Community Project
and are providing a haven for wildlife. This initiative
has also been responsible for the construction of
the path which takes us back to Creetown through the
attractive mixed woodland of the Balloch wood.
Terrain: Farm tracks, open hill and woodland paths
Grading: Moderate, with some steep sections
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