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Loch Lomond Woods

Scotland

View of Loch Lomond Woods IPA © Darrin Scott Frew / Creative Commons NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license

Location: The woods surround Loch Lomond, which runs 24 miles from the north of Dumbarton in Strathclyde, Scotland. The A82 runs along the western side of the loch, and it is acccessible by public transport from Glasgow, Argyll and Central Scotland.

Grid Reference: NS 375 944

Along its shores are mature broadleaved woodlands made up of a mosaic of woodland types. These are one of threes sites which represent old sessile oak woods in the south-west Highlands - the most bryophyte-rich zone in the UK.

Plants you may see when visiting the IPA

The woodlands comprise a mosaic of woodland types, including ash, elm and alder with pedunculate oak, rather than sessile oak, abundant. Bluebells, wild garlic, primroses, wood sorrel, dog's mercury and great woodrush flourish in spring. In summer you might find tutsan, pink purslane, wood avens, wood crane’s-bill, wood forget-me-not, broad-leaved helleborine, giant bellflower or the rare Scottish dock, and in the boggier areas near the loch branched bur-reed, bog orchid, marsh cinquefoil or purple loosestrife.

WHAT TO SEE AND WHEN

Springtime: bluebells, wild garlic, wood sorrel

Summer: wood avens, wood crane’s-bill, giant bellflower

Autumn and winter: A rich variety of fungi, lichens and mosses

Autumn brings a wealth of fungi including puffballs, waxcaps, fly agaric, wood blewit, stinkhorn and a variety of bracket fungi.

Directions

View map of the IPA

Further information

For additional scientific information on why the Loch Lomond Woods have been identified as an IPA, including details of existing protection, landuse and threats to the site please click here.