Mossneuk Wood

The weather brightened up yesterday so we went for a local walk over to the wooded path around Neilston View Car Park, which is in Mossneuk Wood on the Lochliboside Hills. I'd never heard the name Mossneuk used until yesterday when I had a shot finding out what the wood was called.

Anyway, the walk involves a trudge, and I mean trudge, up Station Brae to get over the railway line and onto the hillside. Yes, you could park in the car park but where's the health gain in that?

The Route

On the way up Fereneze Road, you get a good view back across the Levern Valley to Neilston, including Crofthead Mill and Neilston Pad in the background.

Crofthead Mill and Neilston Pad from Fereneze Road

Once you're up there, it's all nice and pleasant woodland walking altough it can get a bit muddy if it's been raining but the going was good today. It looks like a lot of the trees were planted quite recently but there are fair number of older ones as well.

Mossneuk Wood, looking towards Knockenae Hill

When you take the path off Fereneze Road, fight your way through the nettles to the main track and turn left, downhill. Follow the track down and round to the right and it'll start to run parallel to Lochlibo Road. If you like foraging, there are lots of raspberries canes and blackberry bushes on the edges of the track here in the right seasons. The blackberries were starting to ripen so that probably explains why this walk took a bit longer than usual.

In Mossneuk Wood

 

You might also see a rabbit as there are loads of signs and deer as well, although we've never seen one here. There were quite a few Peacock butterflies around and we spotted a single Small Copper butterfly but my phone is no good at close-up shots. Earlier in year and there are usually loads of Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies as well. Lorna thought she saw a Skipper (no idea which and it's not really their normal range) but it...skipped. More likely another Small Copper.

If you keep on the track until it starts to turn uphill, you'll also see that it continues on through the trees and you can take that as an optional extension thatbtakes you to the out edge of the wood. In that field is a large electricity pylon so, if you're averse to getting close to them, then avoid that. If you do take it, then keep to the edge of the wood and you'll find the path back through to join back with the main path.

In Mossneuk Wood across from Neilston View Car Park.

Otherwise, just keep heading uphill and back until you see the path leading up to Neilston View Car Park and take that. From there, you can cross over Fereneze Road, go though a gate and walk a short loop round the upper part of the wood where you can get some nice views up onto the braes above. Once back at the gate, cross over the road to the car park and head back downhill again.

The track will eventually take you back to where you started and There are more photos I've taken  onto Fereneze Road again, from where you can head back from whence you came. There are some more photos I've taken up there here: