For many, the Glenample Trail Ride has been the highlight of their riding year……..See Lisa Thomson’s Pictures in our Portfolio/Glenample 2017
One of our Blackford Riders, Karen Holliday, works with her husband Michael helping him to run a 8,000 acre shooting estate in Glenample near Lochearnhead, FK19 8QF. Karen is looking forward to hosting us there and Michael is looking forward to meeting his wife’s mad horse friends. He has met quite a few of us now, so he has a fair idea of what to expect.
Karen and Michael are well used to being hospitable to visiting hunting parties and made us feel very welcome last year, so much so that we did not manage to go home until the next day.
On entering the estate you will travel along a fairly rough track beside a stream running through woods that look as if they have been there since the beginning of time. When you leave the wooded area the view opens out into what will seem a vast landscape, all of which is under the care of Michael and Karen. The valley stretches far into the distance. The hills forming the left side of the valley rise steeply to around 3000ft from the valley floor and, on the right of the valley floor, the hills are covered by a softwood plantation. As you approach their house you are likely to encounter sheep, fallow deer, pheasants, peacocks and game cocks. When we rode there last year we found that the variety of terrains offered by this estate made the trail ride both exciting and challenging.
Directions to get there are a bit tricky, but if we made it so can you.
Assuming you are travelling north on the M9:
Leave the M9 at junction 10 then, at Craigforth Roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto the A84 (signposted Callander, Crainlarich).
After about 6.5 miles (10.5 km), bear left onto the A84 (now signposted Crainlarich).
After about 20.5 miles (33km), turn right (signposted South Loch Earn). (There is a church on the right at this turn off.)
Follow this road. Pass a farm on the right and then pass cottages on the right. Continue until you see a stone bridge ahead of you. (DO NOT go over the stone bridge. You will be lost forever.)
Just before the bridge, turn right and, after a short distance, take the first left. (If you were to go straight on rather than turning left you would be heading for the forest and, again, lost forever.)
Follow this track onto the estate and, after about 1.5 miles (2km), you will see a barn and a group of stone cottages. You have arrived.
Best take your box down to the barn where it can be turned rather than put it at the house.
Mobile reception is not good in Glenample so, if you get lost, you will have to send up a flare for mountain rescue i.e. Michael. However, Karen’s phone number is 01567 830 344 and her mobile number is 0778 738 1692.
Friends and riders’ helpers will be made equally welcome.
Bring food and drink. There is likely to be a Bar-B-Q
If you are interested in going on this trail ride please let us know via this website’s contact page, well in advance if you can, so that we can put a bit more planning into the day.