Ritual Grove

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About Ritual Grove

Ritual Grove Walk in Glenbranter is a circular woodland walk with gentle gradients and a firm path surface. Benches have been placed at view points and rest areas along the length of the walk.

The large conifers are Sitka Spruce. In their natural habitat in North America they will live for 700-800 years and grow up to 80 metres tall. The Ritual Grove plantation was planted in 1926.

You may notice a number of bird and bat boxes as you go through the trees. These are to encourage Brown and Long-eared Owls and Pipestrelle Bats.

See also our pages on forests around Dunoon.

How to get there:

Ritual Grove can be started from LAUDER CAR PARK in Glenbranter Forest which is part of Argyll Forest Park. Dunoon is the nearest town or village.

There are two equally appealling approaches to the Forest Park from Glasgow.

By car ferry from Gourock to Dunoon, or by the A82 along the western shore of Loch Lomond through Tarbet, entering the Park at Arrochar.

From Dunoon take the A815 north, along the east side of Loch Eck.

From Arrochar take the A83(T) up and over the Rest and Be Thankful, turning left onto the A815 at the west end of Glen Kinglas. Head south along the east side of Loch Fyne towards Strachur. Glenbranter is about three miles south of Strachur.

OS Grid Reference: NS 110 987
For details of public transport visit http://www.travelinescotland.com

LAUDER CAR PARK Facilities.

Grade of trail:

Trail waymarking:

Length of trail:
1/2 miles

Approximate time of trail:
30 minutes

Open or closed:
open

Click here to find out what else you can do in this forest.

Contact:

Recreation Team
Cowal & Trossachs
01877 382383
e-mail: cowal&trossachs@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

User Comments

5 Stars
very good and worthwhile information thankyou

james, 18/Mar/2011

As regular walkers along the multitude of forest ropads and tracks in Cowal, we often wonder what were the origins of some of the area names. For example "Ritual Grove" at Glenbranter; "Baron Turner" and the strangely named "Baron MacTurner" forest areas near Ardentinny. Can you tell us the origins, or include them in the website pages for these walks? Thanks, David Macdonald.

Anonymous, 17/Feb/2011

Thanks for your prompt - we are thinking about adding some information of this type to our web pages. Ritual Grove was named at the time when West Conservancy brought visiting dignitaries to Glenbranter many years ago to see a good quality stand of Sitka Spruce, this became a ritual so hence the name Ritual Grove. Baron Turner in Ardentinny is named after Baron MacInturner the laird of Ardentinny Baron MacInturner forest entrance is again named after the Baron but this forest road is called this due to the close proximity of where the Baron was allegedly murdered on his way home from Whistlefield Inn (late 1700's - early 1800's.)

Forestry Commission Response

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What's of interest

During the Second World War Sitka Spruce timber was used in the construction of light aircraft such as the Mosquito.