Dunbartonshire

10 miles / 16 km

I have lived in both Helensburgh and Balloch. I have always wanted to do this walk. There has not been a good path along the Helensburgh - Duck Bay/Balloch road before. When I earlier this year discovered this new walking friendly path, I decided to walk it... with a diversion over Glen Fruin, that is. This is a great walk, indeed. Even in less than perfect weather.

Hard

The walk has one long climb and a smaller one. This in addition to the very undulated road into Glen Fruin and the crossroad there. The length of this walk also makes this a hard walk. The walk is on pavements, paths and small single-track roads. Plenty of water and good shoes are required here.

Train from Glasgow/Partick to Helensburgh 2 times an hour.

Jump of the train at Helensburgh and take the road to the right, up the hill.




This road climbs steadily through upper Helensburgh, over the West Highland Railway line and past the Mackintosh Hill House to a dam called Reservoir 1. Take the path along the road here to the signposted "Glen Fruin" road to the left.



This road is very undulating with some short, steep climbs and descents. The next two pictures does not do it the full justice. To say that this road is challenging is an understatement.







After some challenging, but still very funny walking, the road crosses a bridge to a crossroad. The road to the left goes to the upper part of Glen Fruin and then climbs over a hill to Faslane at the Gare Loch. That is a walk for next year, in my case. The road to the right goes back to Loch Lomond again. Take this road.



The road climbs steadily on this, the second notable climb of this walk. The next two pictures are from this climb up to a pretty big hill.







The views back towards the other side of the glen and Helensburgh, with the River Clyde and Greenock area in the background, is excellent from here and a big positive surprise. It is one of the better viewpoints, indeed.



The road continues down the glen towards Loch Lomond here and the views are still excellent as this picture shows.



The road down the glen ends up at the Luss Road - Helensburgh roundabout. Continue straight on here on the road down towards the Loch Lomondside A82 at Arden.



At the next roundabout, cross the road over to the pavement on the other side at Arden and take the pavement/path to the right down to Duck Bay. There is a good viewpoint towards Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond here... on a sunny day. It was not a sunny day on my walk.




The path, make that pavement, now takes the walk to the small roundabout at Cameron House, the premier luxury hotel in this region, and over this roundabout to a path taking the walk up the only significant climb of the day. This short climb takes the walk over a small hill where it enters Old Luss Road and the road descends again towards Balloch. A detour on a path to the left to the shops at the Loch Lomond shopping centre and Sea Life centre can be considered.

The walk continues straight ahead on the Old Luss Road to a roundabout. Take the second road to the left, Balloch Road, down to the Balloch railway station where this walk ends.


Train to Glasgow/Partick/Dalmuir 2 times an hour.