Bike: Great Cumbrae circular

Great Cumbrae | Millport | Cycle route | ★★

[Cycling around Great Cumbrae, just south of the ferry slipway]

Almost everyone exploring the island of Great Cumbrae does so by pedal power: the island's coast road is quiet, scenic, flat as a pancake and - at 10 miles in length - easily manageable for most people. Little need for cars on the island means little traffic to contend with; in fact, bikes outnumber motorised vehicles in summer, and the island is sometimes referred to as The Island of a Thousand Bicycles (perhaps just by the cycle hire shops looking to drum up trade). Beaches, headlands, monuments and painted rocks provide countless excuses to stop and admire the panorama: to the Ayrshire mainland on the east side, north into the Highlands, to Bute on the west side, and south towards mountainous Arran. They say pictures tell a thousand words; apart from the first two, the photos on this page show the route in anticlockwise order.

[White Bay]

📌 Bike: Cumbrae circular ★★
Start / finish on Guildford Street (B896), Millport town centre, Isle of Bute, G.R.: NS 161548 ///skirt.before.bystander.
🚢🚌 Bus from Cumbrae slip (which is also on the ride route - start here if you are bringing your own bike), connecting with the ferry from the mainland.

▶ 16 km / 10 mi | ▲ Negligible
Terrain: Tarmac public road, mostly quiet and nearly flat.
Bike hire: Several options in Millport town centre.

Route & map

Circuit of island in either direction, following coast road.


Route credit: Scotland Off the Beaten Track

On our visit

Weather: Sunny, fairly light winds, temperature in mid teens.

Also on this ride

>> Millport ★★★
>> Museum of the Cumbraes ★★
>> Robertson Museum and Aquarium ★★

Chronological photo guide

[Millport]

[Lion Rock]

[Looking towards the mainland from the southeast corner of the island]

[Oystercatcher]

[Heading north along the east coast]

[Just south of the ferry slipway]

[Busy Firth of Clyde]

[HMS Shearwater monument]

[Across the firth to Largs]

[White Bay]

[Hooks for wartime anti-submarine nets at Skate Point]

[Skate Point]

[Indian Rock!]

[Bell Bay]

[Not quite sure what this is supposed to be...]

[War memorial]

[Southwest corner of the island, with views to Arran]

Comments

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walk: Livingston's jaw-dropping waterfall

Image
West Lothian | Livingston | Short walk | ★★★ ⚠ Route currently impassable - see red text below [Linn Jaw lower falls] 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. Parking is limited, but the walk from the nearest road begins promisingly. The last few hundred metres of the route are however a bit sketchy: stepping stones across a side burn, and a very slippery slope to reach the best viewpoint - more details below. Important The house and gardens alongside the path are someone’s home, and alt
More >>

Campsie Glen waterfalls

Image
East Dunbartonshire | Clachan of Campsie | Waterfalls | ★★★★ [Middle of the Campsie Glen upper waterfalls] In bygone years a path used to snake up the narrow gorge north of Clachan of Campsie. Rockfalls and warning signs now block the middle section, but short linear walks into the gorge from each end are still well worth it. A quick stroll from the bottom car park leads to the lower section of rapids. The upper car park on Crow Road is reached by a steep, 300 metre walk or a winding, 3 mile drive. Heading downhill from here (instead of uphill towards Cort-ma Law ) accesses the middle of 3 more waterfalls. All are worth a visit following wet weather if you don't mind a bit of scrambling, but the bottom one of this trio deserves special praise - as you can walk behind it. [Lower of the Campsie Glen upper waterfalls - seen from the cave behind (easily tall enough to stand up in)] Location & info 📌 Campsie Glen Lower Falls ★★ On the Kirk Burn immediately north o
More >>

Walk: Yester Castle & the Goblin Ha'

Image
East Lothian | Gifford | Short walk | ★★ [Goblin Ha'] Wrap up warm on a trip to Yester Castle, because there's a strange chill in the air! Hidden away in a wooded estate near Gifford, East Lothian, this fairly substantial ruin was built sometime before 1267 by Hugo de Gifford, grandson of the 1st Laird of Yester. His architectural creation was so fine that magic was believed to be involved: de Gifford was said to be a necromancer, raising an army of hobgoblins to do his will via a pact with the Devil. Where better than a subterranean vault to practise this sorcery? Downhill to the rear of the main structure, intrepid explorers will indeed discover a tunnel to the Goblin's Ha' , miraculously intact while the rest of the castle crumbles. From here, in near total darkness, a futher flight of stairs descends deep into the bedrock - a gateway to the underworld, perhaps? More likely it served as the castle's water supply, but you never know. There are several possibl
More >>