Carrifran Wildwood
Carrifran Wildwood is a bold initiative in ecological restoration, spearheaded by a group of friends in the Scottish Borders, with over 800 major supporters across Britain and overseas. The idea is to re-create an extensive tract of wild and largely wooded land, evoking the pristine countryside of six thousand years ago. Once again there will be a haven for a rich array of native Scottish plants and animals excluded for centuries from these denuded hills. The Wildwood Group helped to form Borders Forest Trust (a registered charity), found a site and raised £400,000 (with no public money). On 1st January 2000 the Trust bought Carrifran, a magnificent 1600 acre ice-carved valley in the Moffat Hills. The restoration began at once, when 100 people planted trees on that first day. Five years on, almost a third of a million native trees and shrubs are growing at Carrifran.
The groups mission statement is: "The Wildwood project aims to re-create in the Southern Uplands of Scotland an extensive tract of mainly forested wilderness, with most of the rich diversity of native species present in the area before human activities became dominant. The woodland will not be exploited commercially and the impact of humans will be carefully managed. Access will be open to all, and it is hoped that the Wildwood will be used throughout the next millennium as an inspiration and an educational resource"
Access
A rough 4x4 track runs half way up the valley. Further exploration of the site is accessed by hill walking on steep ground.
How to reach Carrifran Wood
Go to Peebles and turn east on the A72 (the Innerleithen and Galashiels road). Go three miles, then turn right at a well signed junction off a straight stretch of road to Cardrona. Cross the river, turn left on the old Peebles to Traquair road and continue for three miles to a T-junction with the B709 at Traquair. Turn right and continue for six miles to its intersection with the A708 at the Gordon Arms Hotel (NT 307249). Turn right (west) towards Moffat on the A708. Pass St Mary's Loch and Tibbie Shiels Inn, and after 11 miles from the Gordon Arms pass the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall (National Trust for Scotland) with a conspicuous car park. Continue for 2.5 miles with forestry on your right, emerging from this suddenly at the top of a rise with a cattle grid on the summit. Carrifran valley is on your right, and our small gated car park is about 300 m downhill on your right (before the bridge over the burn).
How to contact us
For more information on the Wildwood you can access the site below:
"What a superb idea. The natural forest which has been stripped away from almost the whole of Scotland is rich in its own wild fauna and flora, such a delight to walk through or gaze upon. To have a complete valley re-forested would be a joy in itself but also a wonderful example of what could be achieved over a much wider area." Sir Chris Bonington, CBE