Forest bathing at Knockman Wood

Knockman Wood is an old oak woodland just north of Newton Stewart, across the River Cree at Minnigaff. Parts of it are traditionally coppiced, and higher up it opens into wood pasture. People have used this ground for a long time: the remains of the Boreland chambered cairn, a Neolithic tomb about 6,000 years old, lie in the wood, along with a medieval corn kiln. Roe and fallow deer, woodland birds, bats and butterflies are all here.

The small car park is free, marked by a brown sign about 500 yards along the road towards the RSPB Wood of Cree. The Pond Trail is the gentlest, about two and a half kilometres on mostly firm paths past a wildlife pond with newts and summer dragonflies, though it can be wet after rain. The Woodland Trail passes the cairn and the kiln on rougher ground, and the Knockman Wood Trail climbs to a viewpoint over Barclye Moor and the Wood of Cree. There are no facilities on site.