Walk from Glen Fruin to Helensburgh Hill House
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 car park by the side of the road, and traced our way back over the cattle grid up the hill for about a hundred yards, to the beginning of our walk marked by a sign reading "Helensburgh 3 miles".
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.
About a mile further on as we reached the crest of the ridge the River Clyde 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
Below us we could see the town of Helensburgh.
Just above Helensburgh there is a T junction and the path separates. To the West is Rhu and to the East is Helensburgh.
We took the Helensburgh branch.
The path which forms part of the Three Lochs Way in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, took us through some very pretty woodland until we arrived at a car park just above Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s world famous Hill House.
Hill House 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.
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.