It’s funny how often you can drive past somewhere before you finally get around to visiting it isn’t it?
We have been based in Clydebank for the last week or so as my boyfriend has a house there he needs to start getting sorted out, and so we have been trying to take advantage of some of the beauty spots not too far a drive from there. Loch Ardinning is near Strathblane and about a 15 minute drive from the fella’s house so we popped over there a couple of nights ago on an unexpectedly sunny evening!
First up, parking. It’s pretty limited from what I can see, probably parking space for about 4-5 cars on either side of the road (depending on how people have parked obviously). Don’t park like a dick outwith the obvious laybys, you’ll be putting other people (and possibly yourself and your car) at risk.
Housekeeping out the way, the loch itself was beautiful, probably about a 5 minute walk direct from the parking area (although there are other paths you can take). We chose to take the direct route to the loch, walked around part of it then branched off uphill to the left where we encountered some lovely views back down to the loch and surrounding countryside, some mini waterfalls, and some – blurgh – bits that were a bit mushy underfoot.
We were actually blessed with how lovely and bright the weather was and the whole area, stunning though it would have been normally, was absolutely gorgeous in the bright evening sunshine. On top of that, I think because it had been raining on and off during the day, not that many folk were actually out and about which meant we had a mostly peaceful walk! Perfect for me, since I hate other people!
In addition, the self appointed lazy gal right here didn’t even start to whine “are we nearly back at the car yet?” until we were nearly back at the car! It wasn’t a particularly difficult walk, a couple of steeper bits but never for long enough to get me annoyed, and the views were fab all the way around.
It took us about an hour in total to do the loop we chose which was approximately 2 and a half miles… a decent walk on a lovely Monday evening all in all!
I’d definitely recommend a trip to Loch Ardinning, just bear in mind it could be busy and try and pick your time and day accordingly to let you park up nicely and not be inundated with crowds of other folk!
Have you visited Loch Ardinning?
The Lazy Gal's Guide to Scotland 