Walk 173 – Four Waters to Corlic Hill – 9.7 miles

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This route takes you past four of the reservoirs within Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. It boasts a varied and very scenic 10 miles of rough trails, single track roads, grassy footpaths, and forestry trails and of course the added bonus of a hill (303 m / 994 ft). On a clear day you will be rewarded with the most spectacular views across the Clyde to the Cowal Peninsula and the Southern Highlands. 

This route is a combination of the Loch Thom Circular and the Corlic Hill walk

  Car parking available at Greenock Cut Visitor Centre (PA16 9LX). No public transport to start point.

4 Waters to Corlic Hill

WALK REVIEW: MAY 2018

I was honored to have been asked to lead a walk at the first ever Clyde Muirshiel Walking Festival but a little hesitant at first due to a feeling that I didn’t know the area well enough. I had done the Greenock Cut many times and the nearby Nature Trail, but at the point of being asked I was out on my first guided walk with the Rangers to discover other parts of the park (Corlic Hill) and the only walks I had led since training as a Walk Leader were 1 hour health walks in my home town. In true Gillian style, I politely declined and offered to help out next year instead…. Chatting with my friend on the journey home that day she made me realise that I was being silly and what a great opportunity this would be for me so I hastily emailed Ranger Mike as soon as I got home to ask if the offer was still open.  It was 🙂

I had no idea what route I was going to lead until attending another Ranger-led walk at Clyde Muirshiel (Loch Thom Bimble). I had spent a while pouring over OS Maps and Viewranger to possibly find something in the North Ayrshire end of the park closer to home, but I really didn’t have any experience of walking in that area. Suddenly I wondered… Why don’t I combine the Corlic Hill and Loch Thom walks to form a longer, 10 mile loop? Having recently walked them and blogged about them, these routes would be fresh in my head and it would give me the opportunity to show them to other people. Decision made!

With a max of 12 places available, my walk filled up quickly thanks to the power of social media and publicity coming from both Clyde Muirshiel and Gillian’s Walks. My friend Eve agreed to be my Assistant Walk Leader, a recce was completed (in not so nice weather!) and we eagerly awaited the arrival of Saturday 26th May.

The weather forecast is always on your mind for events like this. I mean, it can literally be the difference between a successful, well-attended festival and a complete time-wasting flop. What we got was the absolute best weekend of the year so far: someone up there must be looking over me. The feedback has been very positive (mostly 😉 ) and it was a true honour to play a part in the first ever walking festival to be held there. Here are a couple of group photos from the day….

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All fresh-faced at the start – Loch Thom in the background
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Summit of Corlic Hill. It was amazing to be able to sit and have lunch here in the sunshine looking down onto Gryfe 1 and Gryfe 2 reservoirs! Hard to believe when I came to do the recce it was so windy I had to hold onto the trig point!! 

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