Fantastic Walk to Helensburgh and Hill House

Glen Fruin to Helensburgh

A great easy walk with beautiful panoramic views is not what we were expecting on this day out from our brilliant #luxuryselfcatering #holidaycottage @lomondtrossachs which is Appletree Cottage

How to get there

 From Appletree Cottage we drove to Balloch and then north along the A82 turning left at the roundabout at Arden following signs to Helensburgh.
At the second roundabout along this road we turned right and down a single track road into Glen Fruin.  At the bottom of the hill, just over a cattle grid, we parked in a small (free) car park and traced our way back over the cattle grid up the hill for a bout a hundred yards to the beginning of our walk marked by a sign reading Helensburgh 3 miles.

Helensburgh 3 miles

Parking in Glen Fruin

Signpost in Glen Fruin pointing to Helensburgh

The path is well maintained and the gradient is gentle.  After a few minutes of easy climbing we looked back and got our first views of Loch Lomond.

Loch lomond in the distance

About a mile further on as we reached the crest of the ridge the #riverclyde came into view.  At that point we could see Loch Lomond to the north and the Clyde to the south, stretching up to Glasgow in the distance.  Helensburgh hugged the bottom of the hill on the shore of the Clyde

Looking south the the town of Helensburgh on the shore of the Clyde. Greenock and Gourock are on the far shore and Glasgow is further up the river to the left

Looking back towards where we had come from. Helensburgh is to the east at this point.

Below us we could see the town of Helensburgh.
Just above Helensburgh there is a T junction and the path separates – to the west Rhu and to the east is Helensburgh
We took the Helensburgh branch.

The path took us through some very pretty woodland until we arrived at a car park just above Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s world famous Hill House.

Pretty birch wood above Helensburgh

#Hillhouse is currently undergoing renovation and repair.  In order to carry out this work the contractors are building a huge steel cage around the house.  This will eventually have glass or clear Perspex to allow maximum light whilst roof repairs and dry rot removal are undertaken.

Building the protective cage around Hill House

A Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece: Hill House

From Hill House it is about a twenty minute stroll down the hill into Helensburgh.   We decided however to retrace our steps back to the car once again enjoying the stunning views on our return journey.

The long ahd winding path back to the car