Things To Do in Selkirk

In Selkirk, the former royal hunting grounds and forests have given way to textile mills along the river banks, but there are many beautiful spots in the nearby countryside -- notably St. Mary's Loch, 23km (14 miles) southwest. Sailors and fishermen love this bucolic body of water, as did such literary greats as Thomas Carlyle and Robert Louis Stevenson. A panoramic segment of the Southern Upland Way, one of Scotland's great backpacking trails, skirts the east shore of St. Mary's Loch. You can take a day hike on the 13km (8-mile) stretch from the loch to Traquair House.