Forest bathing in Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway has more forest than anywhere else in southern Scotland, most of it in the Galloway Forest Park, three hundred square miles of Forestry and Land Scotland ground west of New Galloway. Among the spruce there are older woods: the Wood of Cree, north of Newton Stewart, is one of the largest ancient oakwoods in southern Scotland and an RSPB reserve, and the Glentrool oakwoods rise above Loch Trool. Nearer Dumfries, Mabie Forest and Dalbeattie Forest mix conifers with oak and birch, and Ae Forest up the Water of Ae is a valley plantation with a cafe at its heart. The National Trust for Scotland's Threave estate at Castle Douglas has gentler parkland woods.

Woods this big suit sessions that go deep rather than far: two to three hours in a small group, a few hundred metres of walking, long stops among the trees and a quiet ending. Winter sessions tend to use the sheltered lower forests. Each guide's profile lists venues, dates and prices.

Kirroughtree, just east of Newton Stewart, is the obvious first visit: visitor centre, cafe, car park and gentle waymarked trails. Mabie is handy from Dumfries, with parking and paths that start level.