Carron Valley to Fintry – A Reservoir, a Waterfall and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
A morning on the B818, the quiet road over the hills between Denny and Fintry.
It starts by a long reservoir under the Campsie Fells and stops at a waterfall a few minutes from the roadside, where the Endrick Water leaps down a staircase of rock. Lunch is in the village pub below the Fintry Hills.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Moment Blythswood Street, 13 miles away. Sleeps 2.
Book a table at the Fintry Inn on its website or on 01360 860224.
The day
Fintry
It's an unhurried morning on one quiet road, with only 16 minutes at the wheel from the reservoir to Fintry. The walking is a stroll to the water's edge and a few minutes along a path to the falls, and lunch waits in the village pub at the end.
About three hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Carron Valley Reservoir
An attraction
Park in Forestry and Land Scotland's main car park at the east end of Carron Valley Reservoir, on the south side of the B818 (FK6 5JL for a satnav). It's £1 for up to an hour, paid by coins, card or RingGo, and there are toilets, an accessible one among them, and picnic tables. The water is a couple of minutes' walk away. The reservoir is over three miles long, and from its east end you look west along the water, with the peak of Meikle Bin rising beyond it to the south-west. It's deep, open water, so keep children and dogs back from the edge. Half an hour is plenty here.
10 min by car
Loup of Fintry
An attraction
It's 10 minutes' drive west along the B818 to the Loup of Fintry, about three miles short of the village. There's room for only a few cars in a small space by the road at the start of the path, and it's free. The path to the falls takes a few minutes but is often muddy, so wear boots, and the gorge drops steeply on one side: keep children close and dogs on a lead. Here the Endrick Water leaps down a staircase of rock, about 28 metres from top to bottom, and loup is the Scots word for a leap. It's at its best after rain, when the river is full. There's a grassy spot at the top for a flask, and half an hour is enough.
6 min by car
Fintry Inn
Lunch
Lunch is at the Fintry Inn, 6 minutes' drive on into the village, with free street parking. It serves food from noon to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 8pm Tuesday to Thursday, from noon to 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and from noon to 6pm on Sundays, and it's closed on Mondays. Book a table on its website. The entrance is step-free and children are welcome; ring ahead about a dog. On a Monday, or if the inn is full, the Courtyard Café at Knockraich Farm, under a mile north on the B822, serves lunch every day, and it recommends booking: ring 01360 860132.
If it rains
A wet morning suits the Loup of Fintry, which is at its fullest after rain, though the path is muddier still. Keep the reservoir to the view from the car park end, and let lunch run long indoors at the inn.
Fintry Inn, a bar in Fintry.
Photographs by Tomek Siuta, David Black and Fintry Inn via Google