Inverclyde

8 miles / 13 km

This walk has repeatedly been voted among the best 10 walks in the British Isles. And frankly, that is very understandable. It is simply a stunner of a walk. It is a must-do walk and a bucket list item. I always walk Greenock Cut clockwise to get over the hill first. Many other disagrees with me. Anyway... Here is my take on Greenock Cut.

Pretty Hard

There is one big hill here and that comes during the first 2 miles / 3 km. The rest of the walk is descending and flat. The gravel road to the Greenock Cut Visitor Centre is very good. The path ('The Cut) is very good. I would still recommend doing this walk on a sunny day or on a day with no rain. Bring plenty of water and good shoes.

Train from Glasgow Central Station/Paisley/Port Glasgow to Drumfrochar train stop 2 times an hour.

The walk starts with a pretty hard climb up Peat Road, then Drumfrochar Road and after a right bend past the school... Papermill Road. Take the road to the left signposted Overton Car Park. This car park is by far the steepest part of the whole walk. Continue up the hill past the Greenock Cut signposts to the right (don't take that path).




Climb past this house on the top of the hill, go straight ahead through a gate and up to a moor, the first flat part of the walk. The walk here are moderate steep past two dams/lochs.
The good gravel road climbs up to the highest point/hill of the whole walk. The hills seems steeper than it really from afar. The climb from this cattle gris is pretty gentle and not as bad as feared.



There are normally a lot of sheep here too. The views back the hill towards Greenock and Cardross is very good from here. The path now now gently descends past Loch Thom and the path, now a tarmac road, is flat to the Greenock Cut Visitor Centre. The visitor centre is sporadically open. When it is open, they are selling some bacon rolls, chocolate, coffee and soft drinks.



From the Visitor Centre, go straight ahead (see picture below) to the path in the middle of the picture. This is the start of the Greenock Cut, proper.



The path follows the river in a canyon and is pretty spectacular here. The 'Cut starts in a spectacular way, in other words. The path is also great.



The path ends up at a farm (where I had to visit the farmer to save a lamb who had fallen into the water filled cut to the right of the cut. The lamb was saved and is OK. ClydeWalks saves lives.). The path now crosses the now disused Inverkip - Loch Thom road and continues straight ahead on a good path.






The path now has the watery proper canal to the right and the hill going down to Inverkip Glen and Spango Valley to the left. The path is now on a terrace high above the glen before it bends around a corner and enters Spango Valley. The views towards Inverkip in the foreground and Rothesay in the background are spectacular from this corner/bend.



The path is great here and it passes some impressive bridges over the canal to the right. The next two pictures tells the story here.






The ex IBM factory and callcentre, one of my ex employers, can be spotted at the bottom of the Spango Valley. This IBM site built and exported to Norway the first computer I have ever bought. That was back in 1994 and the IBM Spango Valley serial numbers started with 55.xxx.xxx. Thix ex IBM site also supplied most of Europe with computers. It is safe to say that Spango Valley have played a massive historical role in the European computer scene. At most, this IBM site employed 6000 people. IBM Halt, the train stop is now closed and there is plans for a battery site on this site. IBM Halt is closed for good, though.



The path is now winding in and out of some small river valley. The path is great and offers some fantastic views. Yes, Greenock Cut deserve its position as one of the great walks here in the British Isles. My final three pictures tell this story.









Greenock Cut ends where the first picture begun. At the car park. Take the same car park and the road you climbed down again to Drumfrochar train stop.


Train to Glasgow Central Station/Paisley/Port Glasgow from Drumfrochar train stop 2 times an hour.