Aberfoyle, Forest, Quarries and Waterfalls

To the immediate north of Aberfoyle lies the huge Queen Elizabeth Forest Park where the Forestry Commission has largely succeeded in combining commercial forestry with recreation. Indeed, one of the Go Ape outdoor adventure enterprises is located in the park near the start of the walk and on your way you may see adventurous youngsters and maybe the young at heart flying overhead on one of the zip wires spreading out into the park from the activity centre.

At the south side of the park, is the Lodge Forest Visitor Centre. Formerly known as the David Marshall Lodge, it was built by the Carnegie Trust, of which David Marshall was chairman, as a viewpoint and picnic area.

Beyond the low lying lands that surround the young River Forth, the Campsie Fells and Kilpatrick Hills are visible in the distance. To the north west of the lodge, on the outward leg of the walk, the hills of Craigmore and Creag a' Mhadaidh are broken up by large quarries. These old slate quarries were once the third largest of their type in Scotland and provided considerable employment in Aberfoyle. A tramway was built to link them to the railway in the village. As well as slate mining, Aberfoyle once had a thriving iron smelting industry, and the station yard must have been a noisy, bustling place.

A little further around the route, the walk takes you over Duke's Pass, which was named after the Duke of Montrose, the 17th century Royalist Scottish general, who once swore to protect the Presbyterian church from attempted Anglican reforms. The pass was once the scene of intense combat. In 1651, General Monk, Oliver Cromwell's commander in Scotland, tried to subdue the rebel forces there. Trouble flared up again two years later, when the Earl of Glencairn and Graham of Duchray ambushed Monk's men, this time routing the Cromwellian force.

On the final section of the walk, there is a beautiful babbling burn, and some fine waterfalls, particularly where the burn runs into Allt a' Mhangam, which means the stream of the little fawn. Finally, the route leads you back through the woods to the lodge visitor centre from where you retrace your steps back to the start in Aberfoyle.