Ayrshire, Inverclyde

13 miles / 20 km

This is the walk on the Old Largs Road from Largs to Greenock. This is one of the most beautiful walks in the Clyde area with superb landscapes. It is a long walk...

Very Hard

This walk takes you from sea level, complete with palm trees, to 900 feet / 275 meters above sea level. The climb is pretty relentless from leaving the last houses in Largs to the top of the moor. There is a shorter climb from Loch Thom over to Whinhill Golf Course too. This walk requires protein bars/bananas, a lot of drinks and very good walking shoes. The surface is tarmac, good tarmac, all the way on a single-track road with very little traffic. Completing this walk is an achievement. This walk should be a bucket list item (as it was for me). It is a brilliant walk.

Train to Largs from Glasgow/Paisley 1 time an hour.
McGill's Bus 901/906 from Glasgow/Braehead to Largs 4 - 6 times an hour (slow)
McGill's Bus 904 from Paisley/Johnstone to Largs 1 time an hour (slow)

Walk off the train at Largs train station and head down the road to the left, towards the Largs - Great Cumbrae ferry. Then take the sea promenade to the right and past the palm trees...




Stay on the promenade and enjoy the palm trees for the next 300 yards/meters until you reach the Brisbane House Hotel to the right. There is a path between this hotel and the NHS North West Resolution Centre. Take this path to the right between these to buildings. Then take the next road to the left again. At the next major crossroad, take the Brisbane Glen Road to the right again. This is the road you will now follow until it changes name to Old Largs Road all the way to Greenock.
The road is pretty gentle at the beginning with only a couple of small climbs until it leaves the final houses in Largs behind and the real fun... make that climbs... is starting.







There is no denying that the walk up Brisbane Glen is really hard, with some steep climbs in between some more gentle climbs. It is a great walk but the narrowness of the glen makes this walk a thirsty endeavour and extra drinks are required here.



The climbs become a bit more gentle just before the road reaches the Outewards Reservoir. This reservoir is the end of the more narrow part of the Brisbane Glen. The glen is now heading up from this reservoir towards the top of the moor on a more gentle climb, after the first short, steep climb up from the reservoir.



The gentle climb is pretty long. It is also very scenic through an impressive landscape which reminds me a lot about the mountain passes in Norway, those from 4000 feet / 1200 meters above sea level. The climb from Largs only tops out at 1000 feet / 275 meters above sea level. The landscape is more or less the same. Look back down the glen from here (first picture) and then ahead towards Loch Thom (second picture).







The road now gently descends through a long bend towards a small bridge, the border between North Ayrshire and Inverclyde. A border also marked by a pine forest.



The road now climbs up from the bridge and become undulating before the descent down to the shores of Loch Thom and the Inverkip/Greenock Cut Visitor Centre - Greenock crossroad.



Pass straight through this crossroad to the right and follow the shore of Loch Thom on this pretty flat road. I will let the following pictures tell this story.















The road finally reached the dam, which is a good place to have a break and some drinks before the final part of the walk over the moor and down to Greenock.



The road climbs pretty gently over this moor. There are some great views back towards Loch Thom again. They are to be enjoyed.




The road crests the hill and then falls down towards Whinhill Golf Course, past it, and then into an almost vertical drop through a zigzag bend down to Drumfrochar Road.



Take this road down to the right. Take the next road, Peal Road to the right after this roundabout. Drumfrochar train station is just around the bend to the right again, where this walk ends.


Train from Drumfrochar train station to Port Glasgow/Paisley/Glasgow 2 times an hour.