During this lockdown, we have been discovering more and more places close to our city that we can explore. We’ve been quite surprised at just how much green space there actually is so close to the city centre. We had been looking on google maps for green spaces and found this massive area beginning just a few miles outside the city at Hogganfield Loch, and continuing for several miles to Drumpellier Country Park.

Just half a mile from the motorway, the gateway at Hogganfield Loch is easily accessible. The car park is quite small, but there didn’t seem to be a problem with parking on the street. The Seven Lochs Wetland Park covers around 20 square kilometres and brings together seven lochs, five local nature reserves and one country park with a network of walking and cycling trails covering almost 50 kilometres.

I remember hearing about Hogganfield Loch as a child, and may well have been there many years ago with my father, who was a keen birdwatcher, so when I found it on google I was keen for us to go and have a look.

Hogganfield Loch itself is fairly big and contains a densely wooded island (which is not accessible). The area is classed as an LNR (local nature reserve) and the path around the loch is the most popular walking route. It is paved and is around 2 kilometres long, so it’s easy going and can accommodate pushchairs and wheelchairs. There are also several other paths to explore within the park or you can continue on the Seven Lochs Trail through Cardowan Moss, even going as far as Drumpellier Country park (takes around 3 hours each way on foot).

All the paths we used were good and suitable for both walkers and cyclists, none were muddy (although we have had little rain of late) and they were well signposted. It was obvious that a lot of effort is being put into promoting this whole area.

A trail map for the Seven Lochs can be found here.

The only country park that lies within the boundaries of the city of Glasgow, this beautiful park is on the south side, and an area we don’t tend to visit.

However, as we were looking for new places to go for walks, we decided to give it a try. It’s a shame we had never been there before as it is stunning! Contrary to some previous experiences we have had of travelling to the south of the city, the park was relatively easy to get to and to find.

The car parks inside were closed, but there was plenty of street parking next to the various entrances, so we had no trouble finding a place to leave the car.

Covering around 360 acres, it’s a huge park with a multitude of walking and cycling paths covering it. Inside the park are Pollok House with its manicured gardens and the Burrell Collection (both of which have restaurants which are currently closed due to Covid-19). The Burrell Collection is a museum that has been closed for refurbishment and was due to reopen this year.

We spent a good few hours just enjoying walking some of the trails, and seeing copious amounts of rhododendrons in bloom along the way.

It’s definitely on our list of places to go back to, perhaps for lunch in one of the restaurants once things get “back to normal”, or for a picnic by the river.

So we should have been in the Scilly Isles, but that was not to be (hopefully in September?) instead during Paul’s annual leave we have been exploring local walks and places of beauty, as you will have seen if you are following our blog.

Today we took the “high” road (the Crow Road) up into the Campsies. We stopped at the “car park in the sky” and saw plenty of other people following a route up the hill opposite the car park. We decided to follow them. My goodness, it was a steep hike up! Once we reached the top the route was easy and fairly level. There was some boggy parts and I ended up with pretty wet feet (I had just worn cheap training shoes).

The views were good and pretty far-reaching, though I must admit, my preference was still with the Kilpatrick hills that we walked earlier in the week. A piper was playing the bagpipes, which is an unusual sight during lockdown!

We walked to Crichton’s Cairn and beyond but turned back after a little over an hour as we had insufficient water with us. Once you are at the “top” (or thereabouts) it’s pretty easy walking, so with more water we could have easily gone further.

After finishing our walk, we drove on to the Fintry Loup. A little awkward to get parked, but we squeezed in! Only 1/4 mile along a signposted track takes you to this wonderful cascade of waterfalls, stunning even after such a dry period!

This was our highlight, and we hope to return at some point with Paul’s drone when it is quiet. It should make for some magnificent footage.

We made a brief stop at Culcreuch Castle on our loop back home (of course it is closed just now). This is a great place for a lunch or just a refreshment once lockdown is over and it hopefully reopens.

The last part of our drive through the Campsies was pretty stunning, finally coming down through the village of Killearn and on to the main A81 road back to home.

So today we managed to get this amazing place all to ourselves for a while…

We headed down the “Devil’s Staircase” which was somewhat hair-raising (the photo doesn’t do it justice). Fortunately there are some climbing ropes to help you down. The staircase was apparently built around 1860 (!) so no wonder it is in a state of disrepair!

At the bottom of the gorge, beside the “Devil’s Pulpit”, an early episode of Outlander was filmed (“Liar’s Spring” in season one). Since then word got out and it has become very busy with tourists, so we were lucky to get it to ourselves for a while.

The gorge has been carved out by the Carnock Burn and is popular for gorge walking. The red sandstone of the gorge is what gives the water it’s reddish colour.

The Devil’s Pulpit is a circular rock said to be similar to a pulpit in a church and where one of many legends has it that the Devil used to preach from. The rock is behind Paul in the photo below.

Found on the A809 driving from Glasgow via Bearsden & Carbeth on the Stockiemuir Road, a couple of miles past the “Whangie” car park, there is a fairly small car park very close by and VERY limited spaces to park off the side of the road if the car park is full.

I remember back to when I was a kid my Dad would take us up the “OK hills” near Old Kilpatrick. Unfortunately I don’t remember the exact details but today we had a go at hiking in that same area.

We started from Overtoun Estate and hiked towards and above the Crags, with stunning views to Dumbarton Rock and the Clyde Estuary, then views to Loch Lomond and it’s surrounding mountains as we hiked on to Black Linn reservoir for a picnic lunch, before hiking on to Loch Humphrey.

From there it got a little complicated. For one thing someone had removed the “No through road” sign on the way back during our loop, which meant a kilometre or so backtracking. The trail was a little hard to find at the end of the gravel forestry road, being somewhat hidden, but luckily Paul spotted where the trail turned off.

We saw some people further up on the hill and then realised we must be on the right path. The people we saw were at the small but pretty Greenland reservoir.

The walk then continued past fields on a narrow path which I imagine would have been pretty muddy in wet weather.

Finally we came out on the road that we had driven up on, with just a half mile to get back to Overtoun Estate. Despite really sore feet and tired legs, I took a short walk around the estate while Paul rested in the car.

All in all, it was a beautiful walk, but quite hard going on the feet in places. If we were to do it again, we would probably turn back after Loch Humphrey and head back on to the Crags loop taking in the rest of the loop on the way back.

The lockdown has been good for us in so far as finding these walks (or rediscovering them). It’s easy sometimes to forget what’s almost on your doorstep…

There’s not been much change in Scotland with the lockdown as far as outdoor activity goes, but we can travel a little (recommended 5 miles max) by car, which gives us a few more options. Golf, tennis, bowls and such like are all open again, but there is little scope for hiking or canoeing with the travel limit.

We didn’t risk heading as far as Loch Lomond, although it seems many people did. However, I read that by Saturday the police were sending people home and by Sunday they had closed off the road from Drymen to Balmaha except for local access. Most car parks have also remained closed.

On Friday we ended up just taking the canoe to our local canal again. This time we weren’t the only ones, however, the other people we saw didn’t appear to be going far. To be honest we would have gone to Loch Lomond if we hadn’t already had confirmation that the car park was closed. Unlike many others, we didn’t want to be parking on double yellow lines.

So we had a short paddle along the canal (no photos this time as they are all getting to be very similar). The weather has been very warm and sunny, and Paul was off work on Friday and this coming week, as he had to use his annual leave even though our holiday was postponed. On Friday evening, now that we are allowed to meet outdoors with another household, we had a family BBQ and it was just so nice to see everyone. Things are starting to feel a bit more “normal” again.

When Saturday came, we had decided on a walk up the Whangie as it is not too far away (albeit a bit over 5 miles), however, the car park was closed. A little further along the road at Finnich Glen it was the same, so we headed to a roadside parking spot we have used before to hike a small section of the West Highland Way. At least we were able to take my MX5 convertible out for a short run, which it badly needed. Living in Scotland it’s not often we can get the hood down, so it was nice to be able to.

Here are some photos from the West Highland Way on Saturday…

Come Sunday, knowing that most car parks are still closed, we were a bit stuck for where to go. In the end, we decided on a loop from Eden Mill (who fortunately were fine about people using their car park, even though they are closed.) The hike, which was partly on the John Muir Way, took us to Kilmannan and Burncrooks reservoirs. The far reaching views from Burncrooks reservoir to Ben Lomond, The Cobbler and Arrochar Alps were stunning. It was a beautiful walk of around 7 miles and lovely to see the colours of the gorse, forsythia and rhododendrons that lined much of the path.

Here are some photos from Sunday’s walk…

We had thought that we might have been able to access the Whangie from Burncrooks reservoir, but if there was a path it was not well-trodden or obvious, so we will have to save that for another time when the car park re-opens.

Over the holiday weekend, only Sunday & Monday were worth venturing out as Saturday was a wild and windy washout.

On Sunday, by late afternoon, it had dried up and we ventured out to Victoria Park. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid. I remember Dad used to take us to the Fossil Grove (which is closed just now due to the lockdown) and I’m sure we went boating in the pond, though I didn’t see any boats in it when we visited, so I can’t be sure.

It’s a really beautiful park and we are keen to visit it again. The layout is lovely, especially near the Fossil Grove, where there is a little gorge that you walk through and a pond with a cute bridge that was partially submerged, perhaps due to the heavy rain we’d had. There are plenty of colourful flowers, trees and shrubs throughout the park. It’s located in the west end of Glasgow close to Scotstoun Leisure Centre.

Monday was the best day weather-wise of the holiday weekend. The sun was out and it was reasonably warm. We considered going out in our canoe, but instead took a circular walk along the Kelvin Walkway to Dawsholm Park, where again we saw the beautiful parakeets.

From there we headed through Cairnhill Woods and we were sad to see that the bluebells we dying off (the ones in Dawsholm were still in bloom), although everywhere  the rhododendrons and azaleas are now coming into full bloom.

Coming out of Cairnhill we crossed the main switchback road into the small Centennial Woods, the pathway into which, was edged by yellow buttercups.

It’s a small wood, and to keep our walk as “green” as possible, when we came out we crossed the dual carriageway (A81) to walk through Cluny Park. I have driven past this small park hundreds of times, but never taken a walk through.

Finally we went back across the road and into Garscube Estate, which was looking beautiful as always.

From Garscube, we took the slightly muddy path on the right along the river into Dawsholm and continued on the Kelvin Walkway to get home.

We left in the late morning, so were home by lunchtime, which gave us time to mow the lawns and cut the edging, then chill in the hot tub with a bottle of fizz before dinner.

My new Kindle book “Glasgow’s West end Walks” is now on sale on Amazon for just £1.50, click on the link here to have a look.

This book included six different walks (that can also be done as cycles) that start and finish at either Maryhill Locks or the Kelvin Walkway. The walks can be put together to make longer walks, however each one takes at least two hours (plus time for photo stops, refreshments and exploring).

I have utilised the App What3Words so that people with Smartphones can download and use it to pinpoint specific location enroute, such as where we have found is the best place to spot the parakeets in Dawsholm Park.

During the last several weeks of lockdown we have been out walking and looking for more places to explore locally, and that is how this book has come about.

It should suit tourists, people new to the area and locals who are looking for nearby places to explore.

A paperback version will also be out soon, but it costs £5.95 due to Amazon’s printing costs and minimum pricing values.

This blog entry contains Amazon affiliate links

Today we decided to walk along the canal to Speirs Wharf, which is near the city centre. We had the intention of then going into the Claypits Nature Reserve. Unfortunately Claypits was closed and apparently has been since Sept 2019 while they extend the access and network of paths. However, I think it will be great to visit when it reopens (which was due to be Spring 2020, but despite the lockdown it was looking as if they are quite behind schedule).

Walking along the canal was lovely and we saw a family of swans with the cygnets near Firhill.

Instead, after having a walk round Speirs Wharf, we headed to Ruchill Park. It’s yet another park pretty close to us that we haven’t ever been to. We were really glad to have gone as it is lovely to walk round and there are great views from the flagpole over the city to the countryside beyond.

Ruchill Park is easily accessed from the canal path. The park is pretty vast with lots of paths crisscrossing it. There are a couple of places where the canal runs close to it for easy access.

By the time we got back to Maryhill Locks we had walked over 7 miles, so it was a decent afternoon out. The photos below are of the canal at the Stockingfield Junction and of Maryhill Locks…

Now we are home and looking forward to our leftover curries followed by a dip in the hot tub to sooth our weary muscles!