Location – Loch Drunkie Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, Aberfoyle (north of)
Craft – Own Inflatables – Fatstick 10′ Pink Panther and 10’6″ Blue Lagoon Cost – There is a parking and camping charge within the park when the Three Lochs Forest Drive is open during the months of May to September.
Terrain – Fresh water Loch/reservoir amid hilly pine forest
Other Users – There were other kayakers and canoes, SUP’s and swimmers.
Entry Point – Pebbly beach
Surrounding ammenities/Bathroom – The park has toilets in only one of the picnic areas.
Getting there – Head north on the A879 out of Glasgow towards Aberfoyle and then north again along the A821 to the park entrance. The park is about 50km north of Glasgow and takes about 1 hour to drive to. MapCurrent Weather Conditions This little gem of a park is a breath of fresh air to people used to being able to go off road in their 4×4. We haven’t yet found anywhere suitable to take our Jeep in Scotland yet but we’re always on the lookout! Through the park is the Three Lochs Drive (seasonal road – dirt) which travels alongside Loch Drunkie, Loch Venachar and Loch Achray, Loch Drunkie being the only one that can’t easily be accessed by car during the winter months. The forest is lovely and, even though it will eventually be logged and the trees probably aren’t native species, is still really beautiful. I love trees! This is another place which can get pretty busy during the summer holidays with day trippers and campers. It’s not over run but can be tricky finding an access point to the water. There are a couple of spots that you can ‘put in’ many of which are used as camp sites. We stopped at the last car park and walked 100m in through the trees which was a little tricky with rolling the board bags over tree roots but still doable as there were tracks and pathways/clearings which meant we didn’t have to forge a trail ourselves. The entry into the water was over mainly rocky/pebbly with some sand moderate sloping edge.
As we were scoping out the best spot to launch we saw some scuba divers which was a new one on us, kind of bringing to mind the creature from the black lagoon. They disappeared before we got out on the water and we didn’t see anymore of them.
There are lots of walks and camping within the park. The road is only one way for vehicles but also part of the national cycle path which I believe can go in both directions so it is best to keep to the speed limit especially around blind corners and summits ensuring safety for other users (especially if another car has forgotten the one way rule and gone the wrong way). This also keeps dust to a minimum which walkers and picnickers would surely appreciate.
FIND BEAUTIFUL PLACES TO SUPLEARN MORE ABOUT EQUIPMENTWATCH THE LATEST SUP ADVENTURE VIDEO
Pingback: SUP Chicks Best of Scotland List – SUP Chick