Calderglen Zoo

South Lanarkshire | East Kilbride | Zoo | ★★★

[Calderglen Zoo and Conservatory]

Meerkats, tamarins and coatis; wildcats, burrowing owls and leaf-cutting ants... Calderglen Zoo doesn't have the big-name animals to rival Edinburgh Zoo, but for the tiny admission fee you won't be complaining. This family-friendly menagerie occupies a small corner of Calderglen Country Park on the edge of East Kilbride, and has around 50, mostly fun-sized species housed around an attractive garden area, with a few more inside a warm conservatory. If you've time to spare afterwards, take a walk along the Rotten Calder river.

[Meerkat]

📌 Calderglen Zoo and Conservatory ★★★
Location: Next to the main car park, Calderglen Country Park, G.R.: NS 654527 ///shrub.dignify.empty
Open (2019): Daily
Cost (2019): £1.70 (adults), 60p (children)

[Burrowing Owl (25/10/15)]

[Ring-tailed Coati]

[Fennec Fox]

[Garden]

[Black-tailed Prairie Dog]

[Wildcat (25/10/15)]

[Conservatory]

[Kookaburra]

[Domestic Guinea Pig(!)]

[Domestic Rabbit]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moirlanich Longhouse

Image
Stirling | Killin | Historic building | ★★

This red-roofed building in remote Glen Lochay is a rare survivor from another era. Longhouses were traditional Scottish rural homes, usually with family quarters at one end of the narrow building and a cattle byre at the other, only separated by a wooden partition. The last inhabitant only moved out of here in 1968, and the living space in particular is largely unchanged, right down to the box beds, hinging lum (hanging chimney) and layers upon layers of successive wallpaper patterns. A fascinating snapshot of the past, and well worth the modest entry fee.


📌 Moirlanich Longhouse★★
By minor road a mile north of Killin, G.R.: NN 562341 ///strictest.types.profile
Open Easter Sunday plus Wednesday & Sunday, May to September, afternoons only | £3.50 adult / £2 child / free for National Trust for Scotland members









Read more

Walk: Sron a' Chlachain - Killin's stony nose

Image
Stirling | Killin | Short walk | ★★★★

Sron a' Chlachain (which we think means stone nose - or rocky crag) is the prow of an otherwise unremarkable mass of moorland to the west of Killin. The easy start through an urban park belies the fairly brutal ascent which characterises most of the rest of the walk. But for compensation, the views looking back from the higher half of the route are breathtaking: the crags point directly down slender Loch Tay, with Ben Lawers and the Tarmachan Ridge rising above the north side of the loch. The opposite, western vista is an equally untamed one, encompassing a wide range of hills either side of glens Dochart and Lochay.


📌 Walk: Sron a' Chlachain - Killin's stony nose ★★★★
▶ 4 km / 2 miles | ▲ 500 metres
Summits: Creag Bhuidhe (521 metres) | Features: Killin; Fingal's Stone
Start / finish: Car park at hall with clock tower on Main Street (A827), Killin village centre, G.R.: NN 573332 ///with.glow.succumbs

Route: Car park & Killin - F…
Read more

Walk: Bogged down around Loch Tay

Image
Stirling | Killin | Short walk | ★★

This figure-of-eight circuit pays a visit to one of Killin's easily-forgotten features: Loch Tay, which is found about a mile east of the village centre. A sandy beach in miniature boasts an outlook down much of the 15 mile-long water body, with Ben Lawers peering over the brow of the Tarmachan Ridge - which is itself well seen from other parts of the walk. The route also takes in a castle ruin and the beguiling rivers Dochart and Lochay. There is one serious quagmire on the southern loop; if this is likely to be a problem, you can omit this loop altogether.


📌 Walk: Bogged down around Loch Tay ★★
▶ 4 km / 2 miles | ▲ 20 metres
Features: Killin; River Dochart; River Lochay; Loch Tay; Finlarig Castle
Start / finish: Car park off Lyon Road, 5-min walk northeast of Killin village centre, G.R.: NN 574333 ///connected.carrots.royal

Route: Car park - follow railway line south to River Dochart - River Dochart north bank - River Lochay south bank - cross R…
Read more