Cairnsmore of Fleet

Cairnsmore of Fleet is a granite mountain in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, about ten kilometres east of Newton Stewart. It is the highest of the Solway Hills and the most southerly of Scotland’s 219 Grahams. The summit offers wide views south to the Cree Estuary and Wigtown Bay, and on clear days the Lake District, the Isle of Man and Snowdonia appear. To the north the Galloway Hills rise, while Ireland can be seen to the west. The eastern flanks and summit form a national nature reserve of 1,922 hectares managed by NatureScot. The reserve protects the largest area of open moorland in Galloway and has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1968. Its habitats include purple moor grass grasslands, heaths of heather and bilberry, and blanket mire with cotton-grass. Upland birds such as merlin, peregrine falcon and golden plover breed here, while hen harriers visit in winter. Red and roe deer live on the moor, and feral goats may descend from animals left by crofters in the 18th and 19th centuries. Seventeen butterfly species and over 120 moths have been recorded, including the small pearl-bordered fritillary. Walkers usually take the Tourist Route from Stronord, climbing through Bardrochwood Moor to the summit. A second path from the visitor centre at Dromore forms a circular route via the subsidiary tops of Knee of Cairnsmore and Meikle Mulltaggart. NatureScot has placed five sculptures around the reserve, each paired with poetry by Mary Smith. Near the summit a memorial stone remembers crews lost in eight aircraft crashes between 1940 and 1979. The nearby Big Water of Fleet viaduct carries National Cycle Route 7 beneath the southern slopes.