Gartocharn – The RSPB Reserve and the View from the Dumpling
2½ miles · 1½ hours
dogs on a lead · toilets
At the quiet south-east corner of Loch Lomond, the RSPB's reserve runs through meadow, fen and old oak wood to the shore, with ospreys over the Endrick Mouth in summer and skeins of wild geese in winter.
A few minutes away, the little volcanic hill everyone in Gartocharn calls the Dumpling is a short, steep climb to a wide view over the loch.
Where it starts
Start at the reserve's car park at High Wards Farm, Gartocharn G83 8SB: 30 spaces and 2 accessible; at very busy times you may have to wait.
Is it for me?
Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.
Before you go
On the path
About an hour and a half. Every trail takes a pushchair; wheelchair users should expect hardcore paths with varying gradients; all picnic benches are wheelchair accessible. For children, self-guided den building and birdwatching; trails suit pushchairs.
Good to know
The reserve's trails are open every day; its car park usually 9am to 5pm, shut on 25 and 26 December. The Dumpling is open hill on private land. Dogs on a short lead and on the paths; livestock on the reserve. At the Nature Hub: an accessible toilet with baby changing and a Changing Places toilet. The RSPB posts the car park's times a week ahead on its reserve page.
The walk
RSPB Loch Lomond's car park is at High Wards Farm, east of Gartocharn, with 30 spaces and two accessible ones. It costs £3 for the first hour and £1 for each hour after, free for RSPB members and Blue Badge holders, and it shuts on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It usually opens 9am to 5pm; the RSPB posts the week's times on its page, and they can change in winter.
Beside it, the Nature Hub has toilets, baby changing and a Changing Places toilet, and picnic benches. Every trail takes a pushchair, though the gradients vary. The 200-metre Viewpoint Trail looks out to Ben Lomond and Conic Hill, and the Lomond Trail runs 1.3km through grassland, fen and oak wood, partly on boardwalk, to the shore of the loch.
In winter, Greenland white-fronted, greylag and pink-footed geese gather here in large numbers, flying out from their roost to feed in the morning, and in autumn and winter red squirrels are about in the woods. Keep dogs on a short lead and stick to the paths, as there's livestock on the reserve.
If it rains
Nothing here is under a roof except the Nature Hub's toilets; on a wet day keep to the reserve's surfaced trails and leave the Dumpling, which gets very muddy.
Afterwards
4 min by car
The Dumpling (Duncryne)
Drive 4 minutes west into Gartocharn, where Duncryne Road turns off to the left. About half a mile up the road, a lay-by on the left has room for a few cars beside the gate onto the Dumpling. If it's full, go back down to the Millennium Hall car park at the end of Church Road, just across the A811, and walk up. The hill is privately owned and kept open by its owners and a few locals, so stick to the path and take your litter home. Wear boots or wellies, as it can be very muddy, especially in winter. The path starts gently, then gets steep near the top of this little volcanic plug, 142 metres high. From the top the view runs up the loch, across to the Campsies and, on a very good day, to the hills of Arran. Keep dogs and children in sight.
After the walk
Something to do with the rest of the day, nearest the end of the walk first.
With the rest of the day
7 min by roadThings to doFinnich GlenA deep, mossy gorge of red sandstone near Killearn, where the burn runs blood-red past the rock called the Devil's Pulpit.
7 min by roadThings to doDevil’s PulpitUsed as St Ninian’s Spring in the first series of Outlander, the Devil’s Pulpit is a picturesque waterfall in Finnich Glen
8 min by roadThings to doBallochThe village at the south end of Loch Lomond where the River Leven leaves the loch, with its pier, boats and railway.
9 min by roadThings to doBalloch Castle Country ParkThe only country park in the national park, 200 acres of woods, lawns and gardens round a Gothic house above Loch Lomond.
9 min by roadThings to doSEA LIFE Loch LomondThe aquarium at Loch Lomond Shores, with otters, a tunnel under the sharks and a tower looking over the loch.
10 min by roadThings to doLoch Lomond Bird of Prey CentreEagles, falcons, hawks and owls in the woods by Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch, with daily flying displays.Places to stay near the walk
Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.
None of ours is close to the start. The nearest is Moment Blythswood Street, 21 miles from the start. Sleeps 2. An advert.
Then Cromlix in Kinbuck, 31 miles from the start. An advert.
More walks near here
Within a short drive of the start.
Did this walk?
Tell the next person how it went. The best go on this page, with your name.
For further reading, before you go.
Photographs by Gary McNair and kj p via Google
Maps from OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors; heights from Mapzen's terrain tiles.