Clachan of Campsie

Walking With Kids


It was one of those days, I didn't feel like doing anything. In fact by the time my wife had suggested going out for a walk in the afternoon, I was ready to fall asleep. So there I was dozing off in the car on the way to Clachan of Campsie. I should have been happy, since this was my idea anyway, although I had suggested it a few weeks prior. The walk we were doing was a short one, prefect for kids to the waterfall, yes, another waterfall. I might make it an idea to do a wee series on waterfalls in Scotland. We have the water for it, after all. 

Where is it?

Location on the Map

Clachan of Campsie is at the foot of Campsie Glen, the area also known as the Campsies because of the hill range there. The area is north of Glasgow, that doesn't help much as most of Scotland is north of Glasgow. The area is next to Lennoxtown and close to Strathblane.  We could have taken a quicker route and parked at the top car park and walked to the waterfall in about 10 minutes but we though it best to start from Clachan of Campsie. The main reason was it had a small shop and toilet facility, invaluable when travelling with 4 children. 

The Route

Our Route

Elevation Map
We left the car park and at the end of the row of shops and sandwiched between the toilets is a path that leads into the woods. We followed that and past through a gate and, where the path forked off we took the right path, which ascended up through the forest. As with other walks during the summer the vegetation had overgrown the path in places and we found ourselves dodging nettles. The track only ascends just over 200m and you get some nice views of the surrounding area. The path clears the woods, you can see that it comes up next to the upper car park. This is an ideal spot if you fancied walking some of the Campsie hills and it is convenient for people to park and walk down to the waterfall. On this occasion, since it was late afternoon on Saturday, it was particularly busy. In fact we were the odd ones out for wearing hiking gear, as everyone else was dressed in flip flops and jeans. 
Car Park and Shops

Up The Track We Go

Nice View

Tricky Path Down

We took the left path which took us down into the Glen again, the track here is narrow with large rocks which act like steps, and can be tricky for younger children. It can be muddy too so the hiking boots came in handy (ha ha, flip floppers!). The track only descends for 5 minutes before you come across the waterfall, or waterfalls. It looks like you can cross over and continue up the other side. We only stayed a few minutes as it can be quite dangerous for young children and it was exceptionally busy. We followed the same path down again to complete our walk in just under an hour and a half.

Checking out the Waterfall

Waterfall

Another smaller Waterfall


Time Taken: 1 hour 27 mins
Distance: 1.7km
Total Height: 213m

Location: Clachan of Campsie, Glasgow G66 7AD, UK

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