Newton Stewart / Dark Sky Park / Wood of Cree Waterfall.

Newton Stewart is a market town founded in the 1650s by William Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Newton Stewart sits on the banks of the river Cree, famous for its salmon fishing and other wildlife, including the otter. Newton Stewart is located just off the A75 from Stranraer and the A714 to Girvan. It is known as the Gateway to the Galloway Hills and the Galloway Forest Park, which was recently designated as the first dark sky park in the uk offering astronomers perfect views of the milky way.

Newton Stewart

Newton Stewart is an ideal location to explore Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire. The Galloway Forest Park is around 300 square miles and offers superb hill climbing, walking, cycling, fishing and bird watching. The park has three visitor centres at Glentrool, Clatteringshaws and kirroughtree. For hill climbers the Merrick is the highest at 843m. The area is also steeped in history and has many castles and historic monuments. The town boasts a community cinema, golf course, museum, leisure centre, supermarkets, banks and hotels, cafes and pubs and offers easy access to Stranraer, where both P&O Ferries and Stena Line operate car and passenger ferries to Ireland.

River Cree Newton Stewart

The Wood of Cree, an ancient woodland can be located by exiting Newton Stewart by crossing over the River Cree bridge and taking the next left in Minigaff. By following this narrow road for a few miles you will come to The Wood of Cree RSPB reserve car park. Otters can often be found frolicking in the River Cree nearby. On the other side of the road, take one of the walks by the Wood of Cree waterfall, where bluebells and bird life are in abundance. If you continue on this road you will come to the Glentrool visiter's centre and loch trool where the Bruce's stone monument can be found.

Wood of Cree Waterfall

Other nearby areas of interest include The Isle of Whithorn Lighthouse and St Ninian's caves, Bladnoch Distillery, the Cream of Galloway Dairy, the Butterfly farm, the Castle Kennedy Gardens, Logan Botanical Gardens, Cullzean Castle, Gatehouse of Fleet and the beautiful unspoilt beach at Mossyard.