A Walk to Harelaw Dam

With the weather being so nice today, we had a walk up to Harelaw Dam, knowing full well that there's a nice wee coffee shop up there where you can sit outside and enjoy the view..

Harelaw Dam

The route is pretty straightforward - up through the housing estate to Kingston Road, take the farm track to Neilston Pad and follow it round the back of the Pad to the car park on Harelaw Road. From there it's a straight walk to the dam.

Harelaw Dam Walking Route

There were plenty of seats outside when we got there, although the owner said they had been pretty busy earlier, so we got some light refreshments and had a wee rest watching the House Martins swoop and dive over the water. There was the occasional splash of a trout jumping as well as there were plenty of insects on the water.

Neilston Pad

The route back took us back to the car park on Harelaw Road, then followed a wee track that took us round the front of Neilston Pad and past Craighall Dam. Rather than follow the main track, we then kept going along the edge of the Pad and cut through the woods to re-join the path. From there we cut off the track again then joined a small trail that took us down through Neilston Quarry and back to Kingston Road. From there we took the road down to Midge Glen and back from there.

There were a few butterflies out today as well. We spotted quite a few Orange Tips and there were a couple of Small Heaths on the edge of the Pad.

Here are a few more photos taken on the day:

Looking out over Glasgow and the Campsies

Harelaw Road

The dark path that joins the two tracks

Forget-Me-Nots on the path to Neilston Quarry