Detour #128: The Queen's Way, Scotland
Dan Trent takes a literal detour, branching off the busy road to Stranraer and into the hills of Dumfries and Galloway to explore hidden tarmac treasures beyond.
The gravitational pull of ‘real’ Scotland makes it easy to skip past anything south of Glasgow or Edinburgh in search of suitably epic two- or four-wheeled adventure. Which is both a good and a bad thing. Bad in the sense you’re missing out. Good for the fact it’s both more accessible for those heading up from England and quite often quieter than those well-known honeypots.
Take Dumfries and Galloway for instance. At Gretna Green, the A75 is pretty much the first exit off the M6 after crossing the border, at least without getting wet feet. Anyone familiar with the trudge to Stranraer and the ferries over the Irish sea will know the road well, the lumbering lines of trucks slowing the single-carriageway sections to a tedious crawl. Yet just north of this and into Galloway Forest Park lurk lightly trafficked roads running through stunning scenery rich in history.
For those with longer to explore roads like Dalveen Pass a little further north can easily be worked into a more extensive route. But for the purposes of this story we’ll share just a small nugget that can serve as an amuse-bouche, or even just a tempting diversion off the busy A75 that actually chops a few miles off the schlep to Stranraer.
There are many and various possibilities but for the purposes of this route we’re swinging right off the A75 just past Dumfries and onto the A712 at the Galloway Arms Hotel, signed to New Galloway. There are wilder roads in Scotland but this one is at least pretty quiet, winding its way up through low-lying agricultural land, twisting between walls and then opening out with longer sight lines the further up you go. Certainly after the plodding of the A75 it’s something of a relief to have some breathing space.
A quick one-two over the A713 and across the stone bridge spanning the Water of Ken leads into New Galloway, a charming little white-washed town at the intersection of several important routes across the region. You’ll be wanting the right turn onto the A712 to Newton Stewart, also known as The Queen’s Way in honour of the Silver Jubilee back in 1977. The next 18 miles may only be a brief taste but are up there with the best you’ll enjoy in Scotland, all less than 50 miles from Gretna.
With history as rich as the scenery in which it unfolded, the hills either side of the Queen’s Way have seen more than their fair share of battles and skirmishes over the centuries, from mediaeval times through to Cromwell and post-Jacobite English militarism. These days it’s thankfully a lot more peaceful, the focus now on Red Kites, deer and ‘dark sky’ stargazing while the Murray’s Monument halfway along the road celebrates the academic achievements of local boy Alexander Murray who went from humble beginnings to become Professor of Oriental Languages at Edinburgh University.
After skirting the shores of Clatteringshaws Loch and past Grey Mare’s Tail falls the road continues its roller-coaster route over constant undulations and well-sighted turns into the Galloway Forest Park itself. If perhaps not as grand and imposing as the Highlands the sense of twisting and turning along the tightening valley makes it a total delight to drive, the lack of traffic meaning you can do so at your own pace while respectful of the walkers and mountain bikers (the latter from the adjacent Kirroughtree trail centre) whose paths criss-cross the valley.
In the trees the road takes on a more north European flavour, curves and crests spicing things up as you return back towards Newton Stewart and the busy A75. Whether treated as a brief interlude from that or a gateway to further explorations of the region, the Queen’s Way is a reminder fine Scottish driving needn’t demand a Highland fling.