- Height: 400 ft
- Distance: 4 miles
- Difficulty: Moderate.
- Total Time: Allow about 1 hour.
- Navigation: The paths are clear and well-walked.
- Starting Point: Queen’s View Car Park on the A809 (NS512808).
- Public Transport: Drymen bus to the bus stop at Auchineden House, which is a short walk from the Queen’s View car park.
This is a popular local walk on well-defined paths with excellent views of the Kilpatrick Hills, Dumgoyne, Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond and the Cobbler. The Whangie itself is a fascinating geological fault, 50 feet deep and 300 feet long, popular with climbers.
While the paths can become muddy in wet weather, stout shoes are adequate in the summer months, though I frequently see people attempting this walk in flimsier footwear, such as stiletto heels and open-toed sandals! An extension to this walk takes you down to Burncrooks Reservoir.
Start this walk by driving to the Queen’s View car park via the A81 to Bearsden, then the A809 to Carbeth and the Queen’s View (NS512808).
There is an information plaque in the car park giving details about the history of the Whangie and the Queen’s View. Climb over the stile at the back of the car park and go up the short, steep slope to another stile, pausing to take in the views of Loch Lomond and the mountains to the north. Climb over this stile and follow the path on the right, not the path leading straight up the hill (this leads directly to the summit of Auchineden Hill, missing the Whangie). When the path splits, follow the lower of the two paths, as this leads directly to the Whangie itself, the other path leading up to Auchineden Hill. The path levels out and meanders along the hillside until it reaches the Whangie.
The Whangie is a geological fault, 50 feet deep and 300 feet long, probably the result of glacial movement. However, local legend explains the Whangie as follows:
The devil was holding a meeting with witches and warlocks on the Campsies one day, and the Whangie was created when he playfully whipped his tail across the summit of Auchineden Hill.
Explore the Whangie, then retrace your steps and take the higher path when the path splits. This path, sometimes unclear and wet, leads up to the summit of Auchineden Hill, from where you can see Loch Lomond, the Kilpatrick Hills and Burncrooks Reservoir. You can return to the car park by several routes. If you follow the path leading from the summit of Auchineden Hill along the top of the hill and an electricity pylon, you will come to the top of a steepish hill which leads back down to the stile above the car park. Or you can follow the path leading down from the summit to the main rocky path, a path which runs parallel to the one which leads directly to Whangie itself. All three paths join up at the stile above the car park.
Paths leading through the Whangie.
Whangie to Burncrooks Reservoir and Auchineden Hill
Height: 787 ft
Distance: 8.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate to Hard.
Total Time: Allow about 2.5 – 3 hours.
Navigation: The paths away from the Whangie and Auchineded Hill are not clear, and some navigation is required.
Starting Point: Queen’s View Car Park on the A809 (NS512808).
Public Transport: Drymen bus to the bus stop at Auchineden House, which is a short walk from the Queen’s View car park.
This is a walk from the Whangie to Burncrooks Reservoir and back up to the summit of Auchineden Hill. The paths are faint and unclear, so a detailed map is essential.
Walk back from the Whangie for a couple of yards, until you see a faint path leading downwards. Follow this path until you come to a fence. Continue downwards, with the fence on your left until you reach another fence. Cross this fence and continue downwards, a mound running parallel with the path (it covers pipes from the reservoir). This faint path continues all the way down the hill until it reaches a stile on your left, just before the path ends at the river. Cross the stile and follow the indistinct path just below some rough ground, which looks as though it is being prepared for forestry plantation. At the end of this ploughed-up ground, the path leads up to a much clearer but quite narrow path on your right. This path leads you down to Burncrooks Reservoir.
Turn left onto the reservoir road and walk until you reach a gate. You are now standing at the back of Auchineden Hill. The hill is covered in a myriad of faint paths, mostly sheep-trails, but no single obvious path back to the summit. Just head upwards until you reach the trig point at the top of Auchineden Hill, then head back to the car park.
Maps Required:
- OS Landranger 64: Glasgow & Surrounding Area
- OS Pathfinder NS 48/58: Killearn and Drymen
Carbeth to Burncrooks Reservoir
- Height: negligible
- Distance: 4 miles
- Difficulty: Easy.
- Total Time: Allow about 1 hour.
- Navigation: The paths are clear and well-walked.
- Starting Point: Carbeth Inn on the A809.
- Public Transport: Drymen bus to the Carbeth Inn.
This is an easy walk from Carbeth to Burncrooks Reservoir, walking on good paths lined by rhodedendrons to the reservoir behind the Whangie.
Start this walk by driving towards the Queen’s View via the A81 to Bearsden, then the A809 to Carbeth, stopping just before the Carbeth Inn after you cross a little bridge. You can either park at the Carbeth Inn (good excuse for a refreshment), in the car park across from the Carbeth Inn or just before the Inn on the left-side of the road beside a gate, being careful not to cause an obstruction.
Cross the gate and follow the path as it leads towards a farm on your right-hand side. The path goes past the farm and heads out over open countryside and farmland until you reach the South Lodge. The path is now enclosed by rhodedendrons and trees. At a junction, take the left-hand turn past the filter station and on to Burncrooks Reservoir.
Map of walk to Burncrooks Reservoir.
Maps Required:
- OS Landranger 64: Glasgow & Surrounding Area
- OS Pathfinder NS 47/57: Milngavie
