Gryffe Valley, Renfrewshire

8 miles / 13 km

This is a walk from village to village. From Kilmacolm to Quarrier's Village, Bridge Of Weir and Kilmacolm before the final miles to Johnstone. This is therefore a good way to discover the villages in Gryffe Valley and this area in general. This is a great walk with a few, short climbs. The scenery is brilliant too.

Pretty Easy

This is a long walk. But there are hardly any serious climbs here. The hardest, steepest ones are the climb out of Bridge Of Weir and the climb over to Kilbarchan. The rest of the walk is undulating but still gentle. The walk is on tarmac paths and roads. There is hardly any traffic on the roads here. Bring plenty of water and some good shoes.

McGill's Bus 7/7A from Paisley Town Hall to Linwood 4 - 6 times an hour. Then bus X7 to Kilmacolm.
McGill's Bus X7 from Glasgow/Braehead/Linwood 1 -2 times an hour.

Step off the bus at Kilmacolm village square next to the Coop Shop. Take the Lochwinnoch Road down the hill to the left and follow the Bridge Of Weir path signposts past the old railway station. Take the path to the left here. The path follows an old railway cutting for some hundred yards/meters.




After one and a half mile/ 2 km, the path reaches the crossroad between this path and the road over to Quarrier's Village. Take this road to the right and down the hill.



A bridge is crossing the River Gryffe here as the following picture shows. The picture is taken upstream.


On the other side of this bridge, there is a small staircase. Climb down this staircase which takes you down to a playing field/communal area. There is a church on the other side of this playing field. Head for that church. The name of the church is Mount Zion Church.



Take the Church Road and then Faith Avenue to the right to the main road again. The road out of this village is climbing towards the crossroad at Torr Road. Take this road to the left. Some pavements take the walk to Bridge Of Weir. There are some good views along Torr Road before the road ends up in Bridge Of Weir.



Walk through Bridge Of Weir until a bridge over a path, next to a cross. Take the road next the cross and the church here. Kilbarchan Road it is named and the road starts with a pretty steep climb before it crests the hill through some residential housing. The road then descends a bit. There are some good views towards Linwood, Paisley and Glasgow here.



The road now crosses a bridge before it starts to climb again. The final parts of this climb is a zig zag road through the forest without any pavements before the road crests the hill above Kilbarchan. The views from this hill are very good.



The road now descends down to Kilbarcan and takes you through this village and under a disused railway bridge to the Paisley - Kilwinning main road. Cross the motorway on the bridge here and then the river on a pedestrian bridge. At the roundabout here, head for the road to the left past some dilapidated-looking industrial buildings to the left.
Follow this road on the pavements and cross the road onto a better path just after the climb up a small hill. This path takes you all the 1 mile/ 2 km to a set of traffic lights. Take Quarry Street down to the right and then the next street after 100 yards/meters to the left, Church Street. That road ends up at Houston Square, and the bus stops there where this walk ends.

McGill's Bus 38 from Houston Square to Johnstone train station/Paisley/Glasgow 4 - 6 times an hour.