Walks on the wild side
Wig Bay
See the natural world of Dumfries & Galloway at its best - get out in the countryside where the wild things are...
Dumfries & Galloway’s glorious unspoilt coastline, forests and uplands provide a particularly scenic backdrop for many captivating wildlife walks.
With over 200 miles of coastline along the Solway Firth, there is a vast choice of walks. In the far west of the region, take a walk along the shore of Wig Bay (part of Loch Ryan) at the Scar, a shingle ridge where you can see basking grey seals and seaduck like the striking eider.
Along the Solway Firth are some vitally important wetland habitats that harbour breeding, wintering and migratory birds. Take the Wetland and Coastal Trails at Mersehead RSPB Reserve to see wading birds like lapwing and curlew, ducks like the tiny teal and handsome pintail and, if you're lucky, a barn owl quartering the marsh for prey.
Dumfries & Galloway boasts many square miles of unspoilt woods and forests. The endangered red squirrel thrives at places like Balloch Wood near Creetown. Take the Burnside Trail during the breeding season around January and February. With few or no leaves on the trees, this is an ideal time to spot the dramatic and high speed courtship chases up, down and around the trees.
The uplands of the region are ideal walking country, ideal too for rare and unusual flora and fauna. Walk over the Clints of Dromore hills at Cairnsmore of Fleet National Nature Reserve, or explore the moorland around Langholm, where the spectacular emperor moth can be found, as well as roe deer, red grouse and that beautiful bird of prey, the hen harrier.
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