Puck's Glen

This enchanting pocket of woodland offers much more than just a two-mile trail. It’s a wonderful sensory experience: giant trees like Californian redwoods, Western hemlocks, and Douglas firs fringe paths that wind by small waterfalls, bubbling ponds, dank dripping walls, cute little wooden bridges, and moss-covered boulders, all soundtracked by birdsong.

Puck’s Glen, named after the sprite in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, has passed through many owners. It was the hunting grounds of the Campbells of Ballochmyle and is now under the domain of the Scottish Forestry Commission.

But it was James Duncan, a sugar merchant, who developed the trails around the gorge on what was then his estate for visitors to enjoy in the 1870s. The paths are a bit uneven, but that doesn’t stop keen photographers from traversing the at-times muddy terrain in search of the perfect shot. And they aren’t the only ones who frequent the area.

Keep an eye out for the fairy folk locals say live there. Poca Ban is a rather malevolent sprite who likes to disguise himself as a ball of wool and trip up passersby. Charming! Then there’s the shy Ghillie Dhu, who wears clothes of leaves and moss and is hard to spot.