Historic SiteDumfries and GallowayHistoric Scotland
Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Historic Scotland: 'The Laggangairn Standing Stones are located at New Luce on the Southern Upland Way, about five miles from Balmurrie Farm by foot. From New Luce take the minor road past the church to Balmurrie Farm.' It names no parking, and none is mapped where the tarred road ends at Balmurrie.
Driving pin: the end of the public road at Balmurrie, the start of the walk, 5.5 km in a straight line south-south-west of the stones; the stones themselves are in Kilgallioch Forest with no road access. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.
The Laggangairn Standing Stones stand on a low mound beside the Tarf Water in the moors and forestry north of New Luce, about five miles' walk from the nearest road. The two grey sandstone stones were probably raised about 2000 BC, and are said to be the last of a circle of perhaps fourteen; seven still stood in 1873, and others were taken for lintels in nearby cottages. Each west face carries an incised Latin cross with small crosslets in its angles, in a style of the 600s to 800s, probably cut by pilgrims on the medieval route south across Galloway to St Ninian's shrine at Whithorn. The name means hollow of the cairns, and nearby Kilgallioch, church of the standing stones, hints at an early church close by. The stones were among the first protected under the law of 1882. Today they stand on the Southern Upland Way, a short way past the Beehive Bothy, reached on foot from the end of the road at Balmurrie.
Historic Scotland: 'Laggangairn Standing Stones are free to visit and open year-round.' No hours, closures or notices on 20 October 2026; not on Historic Scotland's closures page.
A walk of about five miles each way on the Southern Upland Way's paths and forest tracks, signposted through the forest; strong footwear is recommended. The two stones stand in a clearing a short distance past the Beehive Bothy, with an information board; no toilets or other facilities.
Photo: The two lichen-covered Laggangairn standing stones in rough grass in a forest clearing, with conifer plantation behind. Rab McMurdo, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standing_Stones_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7810305.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog access not confirmed
One of 12 sections of the Way: 'A short while after the Bothy you will come across the ancient Laggangarn Standing Stones in a clearing in the forest'; 26.5 miles in all, rated Challenge, through farmland and Kilgallioch Forest. Free.
Dog access not confirmed
The coast-to-coast long-distance trail from Portpatrick to Cockburnspath; the trail page does not name the stones. Free.
