Walk: Around Falkirk's wheely big boatlift

Falkirk | Forth & Clyde Canal / Union Canal | Short walk | ★★★

[Lock Sixteen on the Forth & Clyde Canal]

The best way to fully appreciate the Falkirk Wheel and its wider setting is a walk along the two canals it connects together. Easy walking along towpaths culminates in a dramatic emergence from a short tunnel, with the top of the Wheel directly ahead along with a panoramic view taking in the Ochil Hills. Food is available at the visitor centre and at a pub midway.

[Top of the Falkirk Wheel, Ochil Hills behind]

📌 Walk: Around Falkirk's Wheely big boatlift ★★★
▶ 5 km / 3 miles | ▲ 60 metres
Features: Falkirk Wheel; Forth & Clyde Canal; Union Canal; Roughcastle Tunnel
Start / finish: Car park for Falkirk Wheel, G.R.: NS 853805 ///momentous.ropes.part

Route: Car park - Lock Sixteen via Forth & Clyde Canal - Union Canal aqueduct over Greenbank Road - Roughcastle Tunnel via Union Canal - Falkirk Wheel - start
Terrain: Surfaced canal towpaths; suburban paths and pavements to link the two canals after Lock Sixteen; steep grassy slope to access Union Canal.
Wildlife today: Swans and ducks on the Forth & Clyde canal.
Weather today: Unbroken sunshine to start with temperatures only just above freezing, but thin cloud approaching from the west.

>> Falkirk Wheel ★★★

[Forth & Clyde Canal at the start of the walk (11/11/16)]

Route map


Route credit: Walkhighlands (modified)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walk: Tidal traverse to Skye's Oronsay

Image
Skye | Oronsay | Half day walk | ★★★

The raucous chatter of birds, the whistle of the wind, crashing waves on the shingle causeway: Oronsay can be a noisy place. One thing it's reliably free of, however, is high season crowds, unlike the Isle of Skye to which this tidal island is intermittently attached. A tour of the coastline reveals an impressive inventory of precipitous cliffs, hidden caves, rock-cut platforms and rock pools teeming with marine life - all packed into a circumference of less than two miles. Pity the path on the mainland side is such a boggy one.


📌 Walk: Tidal traverse to Skye's Oronsay ★★★
▶ 5 km / 3 miles | ▲ 160 metres
Summits: Oronsay summit (74 metres) | Features: Oronsay coastline
Start / finish: Car park at minor road end, Ullinish, Skye, G.R.: NG 323374 ///husky.juicy.grandest

Route: Car park - tidal causeway to Oronsay - anticlockwise circuit of Oronsay - causeway - start
Terrain: Boggy path to the causeway; faint, intermittent paths on Oronsay with pa…
Read more

Walk: Livingston's jaw-dropping waterfall

Image
West Lothian | Livingston | Short walk | ★★★

What springs to mind when someone mentions Livingston, West Lothian? Sprawling road junctions, retail parks, 1960s architecture... how about a splendid waterfall? Under a mile from the town's southernmost suburbs, the Camilty Water drops into a short but beautiful gorge sharply at odds with the gentleness of the surrounding farmland. Two substantial waterfalls and several smaller ones tumble into the depths; the largest is actually fed by a crumbling mill lade (the mill no longer exists) but this isn't obvious from below. The walk from the nearest road begins promisingly, but the last few hundred metres are a bit sketchy: stepping stones across a side burn, and a very slippery slope to reach the best viewpoint - more details below.


📌 Walk: Livingston's jaw-dropping waterfall ★★★
▶ 1 km / <1 mile | ▲ 20 metres
Features: Linn Jaw (waterfall)
Start / finish: Space for only one or two cars at minor road corner, half a mile south o…
Read more

Walk: The blue pools of Ballachulish

Image
Highland | Ballachulish | Short walk | ★★★★

Sparkling blue pools in a rocky amphitheatre are the local legacy of Ballachulish's once important slate mining industry, now forming an unusual backdrop to a dense network of walking routes. The Brecklet Trail developed by Forestry and Land Scotland rises high above the quarry's west cliffs, soon revealing stunning views both over the manmade lakes and along Loch Leven. After the steep ascent the panorama is lost as the path plunges into a dark forest, but small waterfalls, abandoned buildings and even a small fairy village (see our photo guide!) ensure there's still plenty of visual interest. The quarry interior and a nearby inclined plane (used for transporting slate from the upper parts of the quarry down to sea level) are both reachable by short detours from the walk's start point, and are included on the route map below.


📌 Walk: The blue pools of Ballachulish ★★★★
▶ 4 km / 2 miles | ▲ 120 metres
Features: Ballachulish S…
Read more