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RSPB Loch Lomond and the Dumpling hill at Gartocharn
A walk · Glasgow

Gartocharn – The RSPB Reserve and the View from the Dumpling

About 2.5 miles on foot.

Directions
RSPB Loch Lomond

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.

Time
About an hour and a half.
The path
Every trail takes a pushchair; wheelchair users should expect hardcore paths with varying gradients; all picnic benches are wheelchair accessible.
Where to start
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.
When to go
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.
Children
Self-guided den building and birdwatching; trails suit pushchairs.
Toilets
At the Nature Hub: an accessible toilet with baby changing and a Changing Places toilet.
Before you set out
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

  1. 4 min by car

    The Dumpling (Duncryne)

    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.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    Moment Blythswood Street16 miles awayMoment Blythswood StreetSleeps 2Red Squirrel Cottage17 miles awayRed Squirrel CottageSleeps 6Seal Cabin17 miles awaySeal CabinSleeps 2Talli House21 miles awayTalli HouseSleeps 4

Make it a weekend

More days out in Glasgow.

GlasgowA Play, A Pie and A Pint at Òran Mór and the Kibble Palace.GlasgowA rainy day in Glasgow.GlasgowAn Aufguss sauna at SWG3, then Kelvingrove.
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.

Photographs by Gary McNair and kj p via Google