Glen Trool and Loch Trool from the Visitor Centre
Only 292m of climb over 17km, but the technical oakwood singletrack on the south shore of the loch slows honest splits more than the numbers suggest. And you finish at a cafe that lets dogs inside.
Effort: Good distance, solid climb
Underfoot: Some uneven or off-path ground
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A 17.2km circuit of Loch Trool from the Glentrool Visitor Centre at Stroan Bridge, out along the Water of Trool to Caldons, round the loch on the Southern Upland Way and back past Bruce's Stone.
Only 292m of climb over 17km, but the technical oakwood singletrack on the south shore of the loch slows honest splits more than the numbers suggest. And you finish at a cafe that lets dogs inside.
The route
From Stroan Bridge the first 3.5km run east on wide gravel forest trail through oak and birch beside the Water of Trool. It is well drained, gently rolling and completely runnable, which is the right way to start. At Caldons there is a short signed detour to the Martyrs' Tomb, where six Covenanters were shot at prayer in 1685.
The south shore
From Caldons the route joins the Southern Upland Way along the south side of Loch Trool and the character changes completely. Narrow, undulating path through native oakwood, loose and uneven, tree roots and rock, several flights of steps and steepening ground above the water at the Steps of Trool. This is the defile where Robert the Bruce's men rolled boulders down onto an English column in 1307. Nobody runs the steps. You will be moving at a march for a few hundred metres, and it is worth it, because the mossy oakwood hanging over the water here does not look like anywhere else in Britain. Forestry and Land Scotland grade this section strenuous, which for 100m of climb tells you something about the surface.
Bruce's Stone and home
At the head of the loch you cross the Glenhead burns at 8km, the low point, and climb steadily for 2km on a good track to the road end and the granite block of Bruce's Stone at 151m, the high point of the day. Merrick, the highest hill in the Southern Uplands at 843m, fills the view north. Then it is 2km of quiet single-track public road heading west, a waymarked turn back into the trees at Caldons, and forest track home over one last rise.
Before you go
The south shore path is closed for forestry harvesting more often than anywhere else on this site, and when it is closed the loop cannot be completed. Check Forestry and Land Scotland's Glentrool local alerts page the day before you travel.
The south shore path is regularly closed for forestry harvesting, which breaks the loop entirely - check Forestry and Land Scotland's Glentrool alerts before travelling. Ticks are a standing, site-specific warning here and Lyme disease is a real risk, so check yourself afterwards. The loch-side path runs close to open water with no barrier, and the rocky stepped sections are slippery when wet.
Safety on this route
- No signal? Text 999 — pre-register first: text register to 999
- Tell someone your route and expected return time before you head out
Leave No Trace
- Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.
- Please respect the countryside and all its inhabitants.
- Dogs on leads near livestock, and around ground-nesting birds from March to July.
- Gates as you find them — open or closed, leave it that way for the farmer and the next runner.
- Take it all home — wrappers, peel, tissue, the lot. It doesn't count as biodegradable if you can still see it.
- Stick to the path where the ground either side is wet, planted, or nesting habitat.
Common questions
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