Campsie Fells
Campsie Glen and the Kirk Burn waterfalls — Parking
Clachan of Campsie Car Park · Grid ref NS 610 794 · G66 7AB · Free. "No charge to park" — forestryandland.gov.scot Campsie Glen visitor information, read 6 Sep 2026.
Quick facts
- Grid reference
- NS 610 794
- Postcode (satnav)
- G66 7AB
- Spaces
- A small public car park in the main square at Clachan of Campsie. Forestry and Land Scotland describe it in their own words as "small and often busy" and point at the larger public car park in Lennoxtown as the alternative.
- Cost
- Free. "No charge to park" — forestryandland.gov.scot Campsie Glen visitor information, read 6 Sep 2026.
- Surface
- tarmac
- Drive from Glasgow
- 0h 35m
- Drive from Edinburgh
- 1h 15m
From the car park
From the main square at Clachan of Campsie, FLS direct you to "head along Knowehead Road from just south of the main square" and follow it all the way up into the glen. The path runs beside the burn through trees, passing the waterfalls, then climbs more steeply to meet the B822 Crow Road at the high car park locals call the Car Park in the Sky.
The walk
Two very different days share this car park. The short one is the waterfall walk — up the burn as far as the falls and back, an hour or so, and the reason most people come. The long one climbs out of the glen to the Crow Road and on to the plateau; that is the standard approach to Earl’s Seat, and it is a different proposition entirely, on featureless peat where a map and compass earn their place in mist. No operator publishes a distance for either, so none is quoted here.
Facilities
- toilets
- cafe
Busy times
Weekends and school holidays, on a car park FLS itself calls small and often busy. It is 35 minutes from Glasgow and the waterfall walk is short enough for anyone, which is the whole problem. Early on a weekday is a different glen.
Getting here without a car
Good, and the honest answer when the car park is full. Regular buses serve Clachan of Campsie from Glasgow — FLS points at Traveline Scotland for the current timetable, which is the right place to look rather than a figure quoted here.
Winter access
The glen path is often muddy and the rock beside the falls is greasy year-round; in a hard frost the steeper upper section is genuinely slippery. The plateau above is a proper winter hill day despite the modest height — it holds snow, it is featureless, and it is where people get caught out.
Overflow parking
Lennoxtown, which has a larger public car park and puts about a mile of walking on the front of the day. FLS carries a standing alert asking visitors not to park on verges, in front of gates, or anywhere that blocks access, and to have a plan for arriving to a full car park.
Current conditions
Daylight Today
- Sunrise
- 06:30
- Sunset
- 20:01
- Civil dawn
- 05:52
- Civil dusk
- 20:39
NOAA Solar Calculator · 6 September 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is parking free at Campsie Glen?
- Yes. Forestry and Land Scotland state "no charge to park" for the public car park in the main square at Clachan of Campsie. They also describe it as small and often busy, and name the larger public car park in Lennoxtown as the alternative. Read off the FLS visitor information page on 6 September 2026.
- How long is the Campsie Glen waterfall walk?
- No operator publishes a distance, so we are not going to invent one. In practice the falls are a short walk up the burn from the square and most people are back inside an hour. Continuing to the Crow Road car park and the plateau above turns it into a half-day hill walk.
- Is Campsie Glen a Munro or a Corbett?
- Neither — it is a glen, so it appears on no hill list at all. The listed hill above it is Earl’s Seat at 578m, the highest point of the Campsie Fells and a Marilyn.
- What if the Campsie Glen car park is full?
- FLS ask you to have an alternative plan and not to park on verges, in front of gates, or anywhere that may block access. The larger public car park is in Lennoxtown, and regular buses run to Clachan of Campsie from Glasgow.
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