The Forest of Ae is located between
Nithsdale
Nithsdale (''Srath Nid'' in Scottish Gaelic), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost the ...
and
Annandale in
Dumfries and Galloway in south-west
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
The forest was first
planted in the 1920s, primarily with
Sitka spruce. It has the designation of a 'Priority Forest' for
Red Squirrel conservation. The land on which the forest is situated acts as a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
for the
Water of Ae
The Water of Ae is a tributary of the River Annan into which it flows west of Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway administrative county of South West Scotland in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ...
, which has a thriving population of
otters.
The village of
Ae was built in the 1940s to house forestry workers.
A variety of
mountain bike trails have been built as part of
Forestry and Land Scotland
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...
's
7stanes project that ranges from beginner trails to highly advanced trails. Forest of Ae has also been a staple location for stages in the Scottish Downhill association.
External links
*
7stanes
Geography of Dumfries and Galloway
Ae
{{DumfriesGalloway-geo-stub