Croy to Milngavie

1 August 2010 - CROY to Milngavie

Distance - 18.2 miles

Weather - Changeable

Forth & Clyde Canal Near Croy

To complete this section of the walk we took the train

Marker By Hillhead Bridge

from Stirling to Croy. We followed the road for a short while until we found a footpath that took us down to the canal, which saved us from walking on the B802 for any great distance. We then meandered along the Forth & Clyde canal passing through Auchinstarry, the outskits of Twechar, along to Kirkintilloch. At Hillhead Bridge in Kirkintilloch we left the canal to continue its journey to Glasgow and the Clyde at Bowling, whilst we took the Strathblane Railway Walkway which runs beside Glazert Water, which I believe is a tributary of the River Kelvin.

Strathblane Railway Walkway

It was quite pretty walking along this section of

Dunglass

disused railway line - a lot of it was through woodland and there were views of the Campsie Fells. The track surface was quite varied and it made a change from the flat and often muddy canal tow path. Just before we reached Strathblane we passed the little rocky hill of Dunglass, which was quite a contrast after the Campsies.

Milngavie Station

The logical thing to do at Strathblane would have been to continue onto Netherton to take a footpath joining up with the West Highland Way, but we needed to get some transport home and there isn't much after Milngavie. So instead, we walked up to an unclassified road that went past Mugdock Country Park and Mugdock reservoir and into Milngavie where we caught the train into Glasgow, then a train up to Stirling. Milngavie is the start of the West Highland Way and we planned to spend a fortnight's holiday walking that and the Great Glen Way to take us further North and our ultimate destination.