Vogrie Trail

Distance: 13.5 miles

Pace: Mainly walk and trot

Parking: Vogrie Country Park on B6732.
Avoid busy summer weekends in the park when events are being held.
Tel: 01875 821 990 to check.

Please note: If you are organising a group ride please remember to contact
the landowner as a matter of courtesy and for parking arrangements.

 

Route Description

This horse trail can be divided into two circular routes, one north of the Country Park and one to the South and follows a mixture of country road and off road tracks. Vogrie is a popular landscaped Victorian park, please keep to the signed route. Once you leave the park, there is a short stretch of busy road before you turn off  on to a farm track leading to the pretty village of Ford. Passing through the outskirts of Pathhead, you turn back on to quiet country road with lovely views across the open countryside, then across well marked tracks along the fields.

Past attractive Crichton village, there is a very steep and narrow section of road. Look out on your left for the impressive ruin of Crichton Castle standing on its bracken terrace above the river Tyne. Go past Hagbrae - reputedly the place where witches were burnt - and across to the northern section. The remains of an old fort are to be found at Camp Wood but this open farmland has been mined for coal over the centuries and little evidence remains of the Roman presence here. There are a number of signed loops and shortcuts you can choose before you return to Vogrie again.

Please note that Vogrie Country Park are now charging a £1 parking fee.

Current Restrictions

A long stretch on Crichton Road has been resurfaced with SMA (Stone Mastic Asphalt), making it slippery. BHS is running an ongoing anti-SMA campaign. The Council have tried to make the road less slippery by applying an anti slip dressing. Unfortunately, this stretch of road is still unsuitable for horses.

Although we have been assured that there should be no further problems with livestock on the trail at Camp Woods (point 4 on map) as more equestrian gates have been installed by the landowner alongside farm gates. Currently there is a padlocked gate, midway between Camp Woods and Point 4 on the map - to avoid this obstruction, riders may continue down the public road from point 4 and follow the trail signs at Southside farm. We are working with access authorities to resolve this problem.