Garnock Valley

10 miles / 17 km

This is an interesting walk, suitable for all seasons. The walk follows the east side of Garnock Valley between the Lochwinnoch train stop to Beith before it then crosses the valley and follows the west side of the valley on the disused railway line back to Lochwinnoch and then Lochwinnoch train stop. The first half of the walk is undulated. The second part of the walk, the return leg, is mostly flat. This walk is therefore a walk in two halves. It is a pretty interesting walk.

Pretty Easy

This is a long walk. The first part is pretty undulating with a pretty climb up to Beith. The rest of the walk is either a descent or flat. The walk is on good tarmac throughout. There are shops in Beith. Bring plenty of drinks, gels and protein bars on this walk. Good shoes are also an advantage as this is a long walk.




Train to Lochwinnoch from Glasgow/Paisley/Johnstone/Kilwinning 2 times an hour.

Jump of the train at the train stop and climb the stairs. From the top of the stairs, take road to the right, the A760, up the hill on a good pavement up to the Boat Yard restaurant and then choose the first road, a small tarmac road, 50 yards/meters to the right after their car park.

The walk starts on a terrace pretty high above both the railway line and the valley below. The road is a bit undulating but not particularly hilly. The views towards Lochwinnoch and the two lochs, Castle Semple Loch and Barr Loch, are great. The two pictures below are from this small single-track road.




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The road now descends down to the bridge crossing the Roebank Burn. At the first house after the bridge, 100 yards/meters after the bridge, take the unmarked road to the right. This road is a bit undulating until the end of this road after half a mile/one kilometre. There are some good views towards Kilbirnie just before the end of this road.



At this crossroads, take the road to the left. This road climbs past a new housing estate and the cemetery up to Beith. The views are pretty scenic here. Walk through Beith while aiming for the Dalry Road. A walk/cycle path is signposted from the top at Morrishill Drive. Follow this path to the main road at Willowyard Road. Then follow the pavement down the hill for half a mile/ one km to a signpost for Lochshore Industrial Park and Glengarnock Business Park. Take this road down the hill to the right. This road crosses the Kilwinning - Glasgow railway line on a bridge. Just after the bridge, take the road to the right again. Follow this road on the pavement to the left side of the road, past the industrial estate to the signposted beginning of the Kilbirnie - Paisley path. Look for this port and this nice map next to this portal.






After half a mile on this flat cycle/walking path, there is a good viewpoint back towards Beith. See picture below.



The walk on this path, a disused railway line, is pretty interesting and lot more interesting than I thought it would be. There are some good views towards Barr Loch too. The path is good.



The path ends at Lochwinnoch. The path follows a sports field before it ends up on a road. Cross the road where you will find the tarmac path between Lochwinnoch and Lochwinnoch train stop. The path to the train stop is well signposted. The picture below is taken on this path. The first picture is taken towards the east in the direction of Howwood, the second picture is of the path and the third and final picture is showing the pretty scenic Barr Loch towards the west in the direction of Glengarnock and Kilbirnie.










The path ends up at the well signposted Lochwinnoch train stop. Cross the road and walk past the car park to the railway platform where this walk ends.


Train to Kilwinning/Johnstone/Paisley/Glasgow 2 times an hour.

Enjoy the walk !!