Renfrewshire

9 miles / 14 km

The Lochilbo Glen, with the Lochilbo Road from Barrhead to Lugton and the Glasgow to Kilmarnock railway line running through it, is a narrow glen separating Neilston from the Gleniffer Braes. There are some very good roads on both sides of this glen. This long, great walk combines these roads into one walk. It has become one of my favourite walks.

Hard

This is a hard walk with two big climbs and some undulating roads. The views from these roads are excellent, though. This is a walk that requires good shoes and lots of water. Your lungs, legs and heart will get a real workout during this walk.

Train from Glasgow Central Station (upper level) to Barrhead 2 times an hour.
McGills Bus 51/66 from Paisley Town Hall 4-5 times an hour.

Jump off the train/bus at Barrhead Train Station and cross the Paisley Road to the start of Graham Street. The road/pavements, are pretty steep in the beginning before the road levels out and then becomes Gateside Road. There are a short steep climb up to the small Gateside village. The road becomes Fereneze Road and a single-track road up the hill from this village.
The road tops out here and then descends to the smelly waterworks and a short bridge. The climb at the other side of the bridge is desperate steep at times before it becomes less steep after a couple of hundred meters. A true fitness test.
There are some good views towards Neilston and Glasgow here. The road from Neilston soon joins the road and the road now makes a 90-degree turn to the right. After 100 yards/meters, take the pretty flat road to the left. The road becomes a bit steeper after 100 yards/meters before the Fereneze Road & Greenfieldmuir Road crossroad.

At this crossroad, continue straight up the Fereneze Road to a viewpoint here with some views across the glen towards Neilston (first picture) and towards the Irish Sea (second picture).







The views on this road are great. Continue past the Heatherbank Country Park (with the good benches where you can take a rest) before the road descends down to a crossroad. Take this road down towards the glen.



At the bottom of the hill, this small road crosses the railway line just before the Barrhead - Lugton main road. Cross this road and continue up the road on the other side. The road crosses the old Neilston - Uplawmoor railway line here on a bridge.



On the other side of this bridge, the walk now reaches the Neilston - Uplawmoor main road. Take the road to the right here towards Uplawmoor. Just before the next railway bridge over the same disused railway line, there is a road signposted East Uplaw Farm. Take this road to the left.
The road climbs up this road past a farm and then up another climb to another farm before the final, very steep climb up to the first hilltop.
The road drops a bit down to a small bridge before it climbs past an electric pylon to the top of a hill. At the top of this hill, the road bends around a left corner before the road becomes flat past another farm. The road then bends around to the right and climbs some yards/meters before it crests the final hill. Both the views along the whole climb and from the top here are excellent. This is one of the finer viewpoints in the whole of this area and one to savour. Both Isle of Arran and Glasgow can be enjoyed from this viewpoint, as the two following pictures prove.







The almost vertical drop from this hill to the bottom of the valley is pretty extreme. It is almost worse than the climbs up the other side of the hill.



From the bottom of this valley, there is a short, steep climb up to a crossroad. Take the road to the left towards Neilston who can be glimpsed in the far distance at the end of this road. The road descends a bit and then becomes pretty flat to where the road bends to the right before it descends again to a stream and a bridge. Cross the bridge and climb up the hill to the Neilston - Stewarton main road. Take this road to the left up another short hill climb and then the Kingston Road down the whole Neilston, past the playing areas (the old Norwegian refugee camp) to the bus stops and Neilston railway station where this walk ends.


Train from Neilston train station to Glasgow 2 times an hour.
McGill's Bus 3 to Barrhead/Paisley 2 times an hour.
McGill's Bus 66 to Barrhead/Paisley 2 times an hour.