Kilpatrick Hills
The Whangie / Auchineden Hill (357m) — Parking
Queen's View Car Park, A809 · Grid ref NS 511 808 · G63 9BA · CHARGED, and we cannot tell you how much. The car park is private, owned by the Auchineden Estate, and has been ANPR-enforced pay-and-display since 3 October. No operator page publishes a tariff, so the figures circulating on blogs are not sourced here. Read the signs on arrival, pay before you walk, and keep the number plate right — visitors report £100 penalty notices.
Quick facts
- Grid reference
- NS 511 808
- Postcode (satnav)
- G63 9BA
- Spaces
- A large surfaced car park — the only sensible parking for the hill. It still fills by the middle of a good weekend day.
- Cost
- CHARGED, and we cannot tell you how much. The car park is private, owned by the Auchineden Estate, and has been ANPR-enforced pay-and-display since 3 October. No operator page publishes a tariff, so the figures circulating on blogs are not sourced here. Read the signs on arrival, pay before you walk, and keep the number plate right — visitors report £100 penalty notices.
- Surface
- tarmac
- Drive from Glasgow
- 0h 30m
- Drive from Edinburgh
- 1h 20m
From the car park
Queen's View sits on the A809 roughly half way between Milngavie and Drymen, at NS 511 808 (Geological Society of Glasgow). The path leaves from the top of the car park, crosses the road-side ground and climbs steadily onto the moor — the first stretch is boarded because it is genuinely boggy, and it stays wet either side of the boardwalk after rain.
The walk
Around 3.5 to 4.5km return depending on which loop you take, with roughly 190–205m of ascent, and most parties are back inside two to three hours (AllTrails; route sources vary and no operator publishes a figure). The climb is gentle by Scottish standards. The Whangie itself is reached by contouring round the north-west flank rather than going over the top, and it is easy to walk past the entrance — the cleft opens below the crest, not on it. Auchineden Hill's trig point is a short extra pull for the view over Loch Lomond.
Busy times
It is half an hour from Glasgow and it is short, so weekends and any decent evening are busy. Enforcement has not reduced the crowds, only the goodwill.
Getting here without a car
Poor. The A809 has no useful scheduled service to the car park; the practical car-free option is to approach from Carbeth or Blanefield on foot, which turns a short walk into a long day. Check Traveline Scotland before assuming a bus.
Winter access
The A809 is a main road and normally clear. The moorland approach holds water year-round and freezes into rutted ice in a cold snap, which is more of a nuisance than the climb is.
Overflow parking
There is no sanctioned overflow. The A809 is a fast road with no safe verge here, and the ANPR does not care that the bays were full when you arrived. If it is full, come back at a quieter hour.
Current conditions
Daylight Today
- Sunrise
- 06:31
- Sunset
- 20:01
- Civil dawn
- 05:52
- Civil dusk
- 20:40
NOAA Solar Calculator · 6 September 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Do you have to pay to park at the Whangie?
- Yes. The Queen’s View car park is private, owned by the Auchineden Estate, and has been ANPR-enforced pay-and-display since 3 October — it used to be free. No operator page publishes the tariff, so check the signs when you arrive rather than trusting a figure from a blog. Visitors report £100 penalty notices for getting it wrong.
- How long is the Whangie walk?
- Roughly 3.5–4.5km return with about 190–205m of ascent, typically two to three hours at a gentle pace. It is one of the shorter proper walks within half an hour of Glasgow.
- Is the Whangie a Munro?
- No, and it is not on any hill list at all. The Whangie is a rock cleft on the flank of Auchineden Hill, whose 357m trig has far less drop than a Marilyn — the lowest list — requires.
- Where exactly is the Whangie?
- On the north-west flank of Auchineden Hill in the Kilpatrick Hills, reached from the Queen’s View car park on the A809 between Milngavie and Drymen. The cleft sits below the crest, so contour round rather than heading straight over the top.
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