Mabie Forest

The Mabie Forest is family friendly destination and richly populated with conifers and broadleaves. It has a car park with facilities and an adventure playground for children . The wider forest has a network of footpaths and is also part of the 7 stanes one of 7 forests that provide world class mountain biking opportunities. There are also numerous bike and walking trails of varying lengths and difficulty. It is home to red squirrels, badgers, roe deer, foxes and bats. An area near to Dalshinne Loch is actively managed to encourage the nightjar by creating open areas among the scrubby birch trees. The forest also has over 20 of Scotland's 32 resident butterflies including the rare pearl bordered fritillary. Dead trees are left in the forest to provide homes for insects and their larvae which in turn provide food for woodpeckers and bats and there is a hide on the edge of Locahaber Loch where you can watch mute swans and the great crested grebe, and occasionally ospreys fishing in summer.