Devilla Forest - Four Lochs, near Kincardine

A surprising walk through this sprawling Forestry Commission site. On first glance Devilla looks like any other Scots Pine plantation, but each of its secretive lochs has its own unique character with an abundance of wildlife that includes red squirrels, dragonflies and wildfowl.

Terrain

Forestry roads and unsurfaced woodland paths; the latter sometimes muddy.

Public Transport

None to start as described, although Moor Loch on the route can be easily accessed from Osborne Drive in Kincardine.

Start

Forestry Commission's Devilla car park on the A985, two miles east of the Kincardine Bridge. Open start point in Google Maps for directions.

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Walk Description

Stage 1

Note that forest operations may cause diversions and car park closure for periods until end March 2019. The first part of the walk follows the Red Squirrel Trail, which starts from behind the Devilla information boards and map at the car park. This is the only waymarked trail in the forest, and has some nice information panels along the way about the forest's history and wildlife.

Stage 2

When you reach Bordie Loch, ignore the path heading to the left and instead continue on the path straight ahead, keeping the loch to your left. Looking more like something you would find in the Cairngorms, this is the smallest of Devilla's four lochs. Immediately after passing 'The Pulpit Stone' and its information board on your left, the trail swings left. A few metres later, next to a red waymarker, a dirt path to your right leaves the trail and heads west through the trees. Follow this clear but sometimes muddy path for 200m and when you reach a forest road, turn right.

Stage 3

At the next crossroads of tracks turn left and follow the road towards the pylons in the distance. The road swings right and runs alongside the pylons, and when you arrive at a T-junction turn left and go under the power cables. After about 500m you reach another crossroads. Turn right down a darker, rhododendron-lined road, passing a house on your right. When the road forks go right, and then when you arrive at another T-junction turn right. The road forks one more time - again take the right fork and then stay on this track as it winds around the northern end of Moor Loch. The views soon open up and a rustic bench on your right is a nice sunny spot to sit and take in the view across the loch.

Stage 4

At the next fork, where a finger-post shows the way to Kincardine, turn left and follow an almost cobbled stone track slightly uphill, away from the loch. Follow this often-muddy path out of the woods, under the pylons and then back into the woods on the other side. The path turns sharp left and skirts the edge of the fields to your left, before gradually veering right in the direction of the third and largest loch - Peppermill Dam.

Stage 5

Just before you reach the loch, the path merges with another coming in on your left, and then becomes a forest road that runs along the southern shore of Peppermill Dam, a great place to see wildfowl. After about 1.5km you reach a crossroads, marked by a wooden fingerpost. Do not turn right towards the car park, instead go straight over onto another forest road. Ignore a road coming in from your left, and when you reach a T-junction marked by another wooden fingerpost, turn left in the direction of 'Cycleway Coastal'.

Stage 6

Nearly 1km later, on a long straight section of forest road with clear-felled forest on your left, an arrangement of a dozen or so boulders on your right marks the start of the path to the final loch - Keil Dam. Take this dirt path into the woods and when you come to a junction with a smaller dirt path, turn right, keeping the loch on your left. Follow the dirt track around the loch until you reach a more open area near the loch outflow, with good views across Keil Dam, which in summer is green with horsetails and other water plants. Sit for a while and dragonflies will likely land on you!

Stage 7

Carefully cross the loch outflow and then continue straight ahead in the same direction through the scrubby woodland, following the rough and sometimes muddy path. After 100m you emerge onto the forest road. Turn left and then, at the next junction turn right to follow the sign back to the car park.

Route: Ben Dolphin

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