After a short walk along the pretty woodland path you emerge at quite a substantial viewing platform.
This is a great place to bring the kids or bring the dog for a walk - no traffic and on the occasions we have visited the Nature Reserve there have only been one or two people.
The reserve was created to protect one of the last sections of landform which used to be typical before the carse of the Forth Valley was drained in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds.  During this period fertile land was much in demand and the farmers drained the bogs and removed the peat to get at the fertile clay below.  This particular section had been dug for peat and some of the diggings are still in evidence.  
The ends of the rows were dammed to prevent the loss of water enabling birds, butterflies and other wildlife to thrive in this peaceful sanctuary.    
The Nature reserve is open throughout the year but the best times to visit are spring and summer when the wild flowers and wildlife are present.  

A pleasant stroll from Appletree Cottage is to explore the grounds of Dalnair House also known as Dalnair Castle.  Turning right out of the gate a walk down our quiet back road takes you into the village of Croftamie.  Once down on the main road turn right again and walk along the pavement for about four minutes until you cross the bridge (currently reduced to single track) at the entrance to the village.  As soon as you're over this bridge turn hard right and walk between the two ancient red sandstone gateposts and down the path along to the banks of the Catterburn.

​This walk mostly follows what used to be the route of the old service road for Dalnair House.  Built in the mid 1880s for prosperous Glasgow merchant Thomas Brown on the site of the smaller Endrickbank House.  With its own grand gatehouse in the Scottish Barionial Style, tennis courts, walled garden and long drive through parkland the occupants decided that a separate service road was required so deliveries etc. could be made out of site of the front of the house.  The delivery road remained in use until the late sixties when it fell into disrepair and became almost completely overgrown.  It is now a pleasant footpath along the banks of the Catterburn.
​Wild flowers line the path - in particular red campion, bluebells, speedwell and rhododendrons which have escaped the gardens around the castle.

​Here and there remnants of the former estate fencing - a post here and there, a short run of the characteristic cast iron posts and iron railings pop out of the ground now and again.  
The former road and access route have almost entirely been taken over by nature in the intervening years.
All the time the rushing waters of the Catterburn are never far away.
Salmon still come up the Catterburn to spawn but not nearly as far upstream as they used to in former years due in part to agricultural waste disposal in the last century..

On the other side of the Catterburn was another water mill as well as some hunters cottages.  These small huts, similar to the ones found further down the road at Carbeth, were constructed during the Second World War by families from Clydebank and Yoker as escape from the bombs.  Unfortunately nothing remains of the huts nowadays other than a few concrete foundations.  A mill race for the former mill can still be seen though.

Much of the valley floor through which the Endrick makes its way is sand - giving rise to high sand banks on either side of the water.  In one of these banks the holes made by Sandmartins are clearly obvious.

After a bit of Endrick exploration the route up to the castle and its gardens are across a rough grass field and through a small kissing gate.  In fact, the gate is nearly the only surviving piece of the perimeter fence at this point!

From this gate it is a short walk through the rhododendron and azalea bushes up to the house, the southern aspect of which towers above the foliage.  Many of the bushes are in full bloom at this time of year with rich vibrant colours

The restoration of the stone work has been highly successful and maticulously executed.  Built in the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, turrets and towers abound.  There are also some excellent gargoyles and decorations which unfortunately this phone camera was unable to pick out in detail.
The building is currently being converted into luxury flats and should prove popular as it is quite easily commutable from Glasgow. 
When built the views from Dalnair must have been tremendous on all sides.  Over the years however, as the gardens have matured, trees have grown up to mask certain aspects of the vista.
  

The road past Appletree Cottage and Shandon Farm does not only form part of the national cycle route 7, it also is part of the route known as the John Muir Way.  This walk and cycle way which runs from Dunbar in the east of Scotland to Helensburgh in the west was created to commemorate John Muir (April 21, 1838-December 24th 1914). Also known as "John of the Mountains" and "The Father of the National Parks" muir was a naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist and perhaps most importantly an early advocate for the preservation of wilderness.