Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: RedLeader on March 29, 2011
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Does anyone know anything about Galloway Forest Park. It's a massive 373 square mile forest park with 1 million trees roughly 25 miles from Stranraer. It interests me firstly because it's blummin massive but more importantly it doesn't seem hard to get to from Belfast (£52 return on the boat plus a bus to Newton Stewart), it follows Scotlands wild camping rules (totally allowed as long as you behave) and it's one of the few "Dark Skies" parks in the world with almost no light pollution where it's classified as just about as dark as it's possible to get without being in the middle of an ocean.
Dark Skies Information
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-7r5hhe#viewstars
Galloway Forest Park Information
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/gallowayforestpark
I've only had a quick research on the internet but a Fri-Sun camp seems like it would be pretty accessible and not too expensive.
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Never heard of it until I seen your post but if your thinking of going I would love to tag along, sounds just the place to get lost in.
Brian
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I've only been there a couple of times for walking and there's plenty of trails, wild life and enough pine trees lol.
Not camped there though but from what I remember you could easily plan at least a long weekend getting lost there; you could walk up to a couple of moors and back down in and round again which would be class.
Don't forget the midgy repelant though! Even in May its like being swammed b hungry locusts!!!
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yes i've heard this place is the spot if you want to do some star gazing.
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The last few times I have been over there I have driven through the the forest on my way from Stranraer to Dumfries. It is certainly a quiet spot, a real wilderness.
There is plenty of height for those who enjoy hills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galloway_Hills).
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Was in it once quite a few years agao on the way home from the Lake District. I only saw a tiny part but it is definitely a place I'd love to return to and explore properly, you do get a proper sense of the wilderness feel with it.
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My brother, father an I head to Newton Stewart twice a year or so for a bit of shooting. Great place
Matthew
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Kat and I went to Kirroughtree (http://www.7stanes.gov.uk/forestry/achs-5rnf8m) which is part of Galloway Forest for some mountain biking a couple of years ago. Was an awesome trip, the trails and location are superb, and it only took about 40 minutes to get to from Stranraer. We did it as a day trip as Stena usually do good deals if you are returning on the same day.