Inverclyde, North Ayrshire

8 miles / 13 km

A hard walk on a sometimes waterlogged path. Only suitable for walkers with good mobility.

Hard

A hard walk on the moor on a badly maintained path (Kelly Cut). This walk can and should only be undertaken after a long spell of sun so the waterlogged path can dry up. The first half of the walk and the final 1 miles/ 2 km are on a good path. Good shoes and plenty of water are recommended here. This walk is not suitable for walkers with mobility problems ! There are some jumping over waterholes here which is pretty nasty. Which is a great shame as this is one of the finest walks in the Clyde area.

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) past a house, 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 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, cross the bridge to the left and then walk the few yards/meters up to the Kelly Cut signpost to the right. Kelly Cut is 5 miles/ 8 km long. The first mile/ 1.5 km is easy going. Then, after a left bend, the path enters some boggy parts and the water level is pretty high here. Some dodgy "bridges" do not make the walk easier/safer either. This part of the path/cut has deteriorated over the last three years and has made this walk pretty difficult.


The boggy/waterlogged part of the path ends up at a big right bend. There are still some dodgy "bridges" and some nasty waterholes ahead. Waterholes, one of them is 5 feet / 1 meter deep, bypassed through the high grass to the right. Hence, this is not a walk for walkers with mobility problems.



The final mile / 1.5 km of Kelly Cut up to the small pass over to the glen leading down to Wemyss Bay are reasonably dry. This is also the prettiest part of the walk with Daff Reservoir to the right at the valley floor. The pass is reasonably dry and it takes the walker over a gravel road just below Kelly Reservoir. A detour up to this small manmade loch is worth the hassle.
The gravel road descends to a small burn before it rises up over a crest with good views in all directions. The views towards Toward, Rothesay and the ferry traffic is great here.



The gravel road descends down the glen through two gates until the top of the caravan parks. Just 100 yards / meters before the 60 - 90 degrees right turn, take the path to the left down towards the river/burn. You have missed the turn off if you are now among the caravans. This not-so-well-maintained narrow path is bypassing the nasty short climb up and over the hill to the vastly popular caravan park.
The path goes, it feels like it, first up the river/burn before a small crossroad at the river. Take the path down the river/burn through the jungle, the vegetation is very dense here, past some rather nasty steps in the path down to the end of the path at a gate. You are now in Wemyss Bay. At the end of the road, both the bus stop for the Glasgow bus and the beautiful Wemyss Bay train station comes into view. That and the ferries.

Train from Wemyss Bay to Glasgow/Paisley/Port Glasgow 2 times an hour
McGill's Bus 901/906 to Glasgow/Greenock/Braehead 4-6 times an hour