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Outdoor Activities Where to begin? There’s so many options! Holiday time is precious, so we’ve compiled a selection of the most popular pursuits to help make the most of your time here. Walking / Hiking From
casual
river bank strolls to committed
long distance routes the Traquair Arms Hotel is the prefect
stopover on your walking holiday. The region is seamed with tracks
and paths so that you can walk for an hour, a day or week.
On the Moffat road, past Tibbie Shiels Inn take a walk up the Grey Mares Tail, a "hanging valley" waterfall where the valley was scoured out by glaciers during the last ice age leaving the outlet burn from Loch Skeen falling about 300 feet down a sheer cliff face. The waterfall itself is immensely spectacular with a drop of 61m (200 ft). The whole area around these falls belongs to the National Trust for Scotland and is rich in wild flowers – keep an eye out fro the wild goats too. From the top of the falls, enjoy a more strenuous walk up past the waterfall to Loch Skeen - investigate a network of old Drove Roads and unmarked tracks that can be enjoyed on foot or bike covering Southern Scotland. And when hunger strikes and you’re ready for lunch or dinner, either pop back to the Hotel, or why not pop into the Glen Café and if you’re in luck there may even be some evening entertainment to accompany your meal. On your way to the Grey Mares Tail from the hotel, you will pass the splendid St Mary’s Loch. Keep a keen look out and if you’re lucky you might just spot the resident Ospreys who sometimes fish in the local lochs and reservoirs. St Mary’s Loch and its sister the Loch of the Lowes, is a magical setting. The area is rich in beauty and has a depth of history: the Borders Reivers, literary giants such as James Hogg and Walter Scott and at the heart of the ancient Ettrick Forest, an ancient royal hunting ground and a place where William Wallace launched raids against the English. It is also a place of legend with Merlin the wizard fleeing to the area after a bloody battle near Carlisle. Watersports are also available on the Loch which has an active sailing club; with permit fishing available on both the Lochs and Reservoirs. Fishing Internationally famous for its salmon fishing, the River Tweed sees people coming from all over the world to fish it. After three record breaking years, not only does the Tweed catch more Atlantic salmon than any other river in the European Union, but it also now ranks among the very top salmon rivers in the world. But the Tweed holds only some of the areas fishy secrets! The Borders are renowned for excellent sea trout fishing on its tributaries; from the rainbow trout in the local lochs to the wilder brown trout in the rivers; and from the coarse fishing of the lower Tweed to the sea fishing off the Berwickshire coast. Visit www.fishtweed.co.uk to make the most of your trip, or call the Tweedline telephone information system set up by the Tweed Foundation, providing Fishing Reports and Prospects, River Levels (updated daily) and Last Minute Rod Vacancies. Cycling For those that want to get off the beaten track, there are plenty of off-road trails too: from beginner to professional, there’s casual forest trails, natural rights of way, as well as the world’s best mountain bike specific trails. In recent years the mountain biking scene has exploded in the Scottish Borders, with trails right on our doorstep being recognised as some of the best in the world! “Last year, IMBA's online poll named
Scotland the People's Choice. In 2005, the Scots go one better
by knocking British Columbia off the Global Superstar pedestal
Scotland features the government-sponsored Seven Stanes Project
- riding centres with outstanding trails - and the brilliant scenery
and demanding trails of the Scottish Highlands. The Glentress
centre attracted 250,000 visitors last year, according to the
Forestry Commission Scotland, which prompted the agency to purchase
new land. With mountain bike tourism on the rise and increasing
numbers of trails being built, we expect Scotland to stay near
the top of the international scorecard for years to come.” Thirty minutes by bike on quiet country roads and disused railway path, or five minutes in the car, at Glentress there are graded trails to suit all tastes and abilities: there’s a skills loop, practice areas, and a graded freeride area for those intent on getting airborne. For lunch and a coffee afterwards why not visit the Hub in the Forest. Just a few minutes cycle from the Hotel you will find the delights of Innerleithen’s Traquair cross country and extreme downhill mountain bike trails. Home to one of the UK’s most challenging cross country courses – it climbs and descends along 12 miles of glorious natural, and, ingeniously man-made singletrack. It’s the ideal place to sharpen your technical singletrack skills, hone your nerve with some serious drops, rocks, and hopefully not too many flops. And for the body-armour brigade there are enough world class downhill courses on the hill to make a week-long stay just enough to whet your appetite until your next visit. Golf Freedom
of the Fairways Golf Pass Birdwatching Ospreys are now well established in the Tweed Valley Forest Park - and in 2005 four chicks were born to the breeding pairs. Only five minutes drive from the Traquair Arms Hotel is the Tweed Valley Osprey Project a sanctuary created to protect nesting ospreys and encourage them to settle and breed in the area. The Osprey Watch Centres at Glentress Forest and Kailzie Gardens are well worth a visit! To find out about more about birdwatching in the South of Scotland, please click here. |
