My parents have lived beside here all my life so I have fond memories of walking through here after…read moreschool with my Gran. In the ensuing 25ish (oh, God!) years, it's not changed one iota. There are 2 play areas with swings, chute etc, which are in constant use. In the centre of the park is Aikenhead House - now privately owned flats. There is also the awesome Walled Rose garden - no ball games and keep your dog on its lead in here! The park is regularly patrolled by council staff and police, but you may want to avoid the playpark parts in the evening as they've become a bit of a teen hangout.

Very clean on the edge of The Meadows. There are swings, slide, and climbing structure. Lots of…read moreparents and young children. Did not see any snack counters.

Ok, so I'm obviously not a five-year old child anymore. (I can type and spell and use words like…read moreincongruous, though I haven't had the opportunity yet). But I like play parks. There comes a point when people stop making fun things for you. I mean, I'm in my early 20s, so people give me clothes and books instead of water-guns. Which is totally valid. But I think every now and then people should give their friends bouncy balls and hoola-hoops and frisbees. Seriously. So, this playpark is not half as cool as the one on the Meadows, but it's in a quieter less crowded part of the park. They have slides and monkey bars and all sort of fun things. I've many a time seen children having fun on them. (I've also seen older teenagers having fun on them. At night. With beer). If you feel like you're tired of being 20, maybe have a visit. If you're a parent, then take your children there, 'cause that's where it looks like the party is.

A hidden gem which your Julia Donaldson loving little ones will love to visit!…read moreWe call this Gruffalo Wood because of the Gruffalo-themed carvings dotted near the entrance of the Loch. The Loch itself is fairly small, taking only 15-20 mins to walk around. There is lots of nature and wildlife to explore here from toadstools to frogs to wild raspberries to dragonflies... We met a particularly large, and bold, swan today whilst feeding the ducks! On our last visit we stumbled across hundreds and hundreds of baby frogs migrating across the pathway to the Loch. This has become a regular location for us to visit with our little Julia Donaldson fan. There is a play park at the far end of the Loch from the little car park off Kilmardinny Avenue and if you need something to eat or liquid refreshments after your walk there is a recently opened Waitrose with a lovely cafe minutes away by car or foot!

We visited here after discovering Gruffalo Wood through Ali's review :)…read more My friend was visiting with her 6 and 3yr old girls and we took A in his pram. We really enjoyed walking round the loch in the sunshine, the path is pretty easy going for littles and the pram alike, and there are a few places to stop along the way and see the ducks or discover the awesome carvings. We couldn't find the play park, perhaps a little sign would help, but we asked someone and soon found the little path leading up to it. There were some different play areas to explore including an awesome rope swing that the adults enjoyed too! We had a great, free day out and it worked well to tire out the kids. Would highly recommend.

Beautiful park. Very nature friendly…read more Love spending time here especially at the waterfalls and pond area. Very kid friendly and even has an outdoor free gym! Plenty history to be found in the visitors centre and even got a coffee shop just at the car park at the garden centre.

This beautiful park is a huge favourite with director Danny Boyle with scenes from "Shallow Grave"…read moreand "Trainspotting" filmed here. For me, Rouken Glen is also very special, it's where I used to feed the ducks when I was little, I learned how to ride my Bluebird bike here, I enjoyed eating ice-creams here with my family in summer and making a wish by throwing pennies into the waterfall with my dad. Rouken Glen is a beautiful park and there is so much to do here, especially if you have a young family. If you're a nature lover then it's great to come here for a walk and listen to the birds tweeting. When I came here last summer I was glad to see that it's still as popular as ever, we even took the paddle boats out and I enjoyed being captain for the day as G-Bot is useless at rowing. I also took a lot of flyers from the park rangers office, that encouraged people to be more environmental and bring out the hippie in you. This year I plan to take part in some of the activities in these flyers, such as going on an ancient tree hunt, joining the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, taking part in National Insect Week by going on a bug hunt, who knows I might even find Bugtropolis. What better place to do all of these things than at Rouken Glen? If all that nature tires you out then there's a little cafe beside the pond to sit and recharge your batteries.

I've lived less than 10 minutes away from Newlands Park for 6 years now, and I only visited for the…read morefirst time last week. And what a park I've been missing all these years! I guess I'm spoiled by Rouken Glen, but Newlands is just as lovely and well worth a visit. It's quite small but really lovely, a bit of a hidden oasis off Kilmarnock Road. I was there to visit the new Dandelion Cafe at the tennis court pavilion (check out my review for that separately) but took the chance after eating to have a bit of a wander. This park is a lovely spot for dog walking, running, walking, cycling and general meandering. There's a small pond, a kids playground and generally, seems like a really lovely place to spend some time. I'll definitely be back again soon.

For shame, I've lived on the southside all of my life, and I've never been here. Having a puppy…read moreobviously changes this - in search of a wee park for his first weekend of being allowed to roam free, this was our first choice. Luckily, we weren't disappointed. For a park that small, there is a lot going for it: it's got a great cafe in the Dandelion Cafe, a good amount of open space for letting your wee dog run free, a couple of tennis courts, a play park, and a small pond. It's a dog walkers paradise, and is great if you want to chill out from the hustle and bustle of Shawlands. While it definitely isn't as big as Rouken Glen, it has a hell of a lot going for it. The Dandelion Cafe is well worth a visit in itself (another review hopefully on the way!), and you'll really enjoy a wander to walk off your cake!

Very cheap prices for zoo excellent park for kids and let us in for toilet after closing.read more

How have I not reviewed this place yet? Well by dammit, it's nearly midnight on a Thursday, the…read moreweek after I was actually there but hey ho, here goes. Calderglen is for any person in East Kilbride, a little slice of heaven. The town is, to be kind, a bit grey. It's a new town with not much new about it and frankly, dull. I commute to Glasgow every day and come home to sit and watch TV. So, Calderglen offers me that escape to a nature, and only a five minute drive from my house (or half hour walk). Honestly, once you're down on the nature trail, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in a completely different part of Scotland. The trees are high, the river is soft and flowing and you can hear the wildlife all around you. Although, at the moment, the main trail is closed because of rock falls but that was almost a week ago so hopefully it has been secured and re-opened. It's not quite as big as say, Chatelheraut but is very similar in terms of offering a nice circular walk to fill your lungs with fresh air. I love being half way round, right in amongst the trees and not being able to hear a car or many other sounds for that matter. Up at the castle grounds area of the park and across from the playing fields and cricket club, there is a botanical garden with an adjoining children's petting zoo. The zoo has various birds and small mammals, which my daughter Grace loves (obviously with a special fondness for the meerkats.) It's well worth a wee visit, particularly if you have kids. My only one gripe about Calderglen is the adventure playground. It really needs some TLC. There are no swings for kids and the zip slide thing for kids has no zipper (chair). The sand pit is also a bit suspect. So that's a shame because the place will be mobbed with picnicers this summer. There also used to be a duckpond and a couple of pig pens near the car park but these have been either closed or left to grow over, which again is sad because I loved them as child. Okay, that was two minor gripes but still, if you're ever in town, drive straight past the town centre shopping mall (it's pants) and go to Calderglen.

A perfect park to take kids to! Not only is the circular…read morelandscaping of the park user-friendly but also very pleasing to the eye. There's two circles to it - an inner and an outer. The outer is a hilly grass area with benches, and the inner is a well-equipped and fenced in large kids playground - such a set-up is perfect for adults to sit back and watch the kids whilst allowing them the independence to run around freely. And because of the fencing, the worry of them running off too far is eliminated. Another bonus is that it's never as busy as the Kelvingrove or Botanics. The grassy area is also perfect to let dogs have a nice sniff around - though probably only suitable for smaller dogs. All in all, it's a perfect escape from the city buzz on Byres Road, and a great way to entertain the wee-uns.

This is my local park, although I confess that I don't visit it that often. But it's a nice place…read moreon a sunny day and it has a great swings area that is very child-safe. Since the old pavilion was converted into a nursery there's always a lot of child activity in the park, so consequently it is very popular with parents who have small children. It's a bit too close to Highburgh Road to be very peaceful, but it's a nice place to sit and get some sun in the summer months.

This is one of those things where you're like, "Eh, it's just a garden, how nice can it be." Well,…read moreI'm here to tell you--it can be spectacular. I bought National Trust memberships for myself and my mom while she's here visiting, and I've found the properties to be lovingly kept by passionate and eager staff. If it's National Trust, it's worth a visit, however small potatoes it might initially appear. This is a place curated and maintained with real love...the lawn outside the old estate house is manicured to perfection, each blade of grass clipped to be nearly supernatural in its even- and neatness. Then when you get into the wall every shrub, tree, flower and leaf seems to have been arranged with a sense of how it will be most pleasing to the eye from every direction. There are several thoughtfully placed benches should you desire a contemplative moment, and every plant is clearly labelled. The staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and there is a small cafe and gift shop to finish off the visit. What is amazing is that this is so close to the city but it feels like it's deep in the countryside. Definitely well worth a visit if your just trying to take advantage of a sunny day or show off something unique to a visitor of our fine city.

This is indeed, one of Glasgow's best kept secrets - or was to my knowledge until about six weeks…read moreago. It, just so happened that the mother-in-law was coming to Glasgow for a weekend stay on her way to London. In her determination not just to stay in the West End and visit the boy's favourite pub - Curlers - she did some researching of her own. Alas, the three of us trundled along to Greenbank Garden before heading to mine for a home-cooked dinner. As unusual a situation as this was, being a cultural trip and all, it was extremely pleasant. Despite the time of year, the gardens were well looked after, presented and provided a nice change from Curlers. I also really enjoyed the chance to explore another The National Trust for Scotland adventure, which given my rather indirect degree is something that I have been increasingly open to in recent months.

Tollcross park is a fantastic urban park encompassing a huge area including a small plant house,…read morerose garden, wooded area, playing fields and open grassy areas. Bordered by housing, including some fairly bogging flats, it's not somewhere I'd be keen to go at night but I have had many enjoyable walks with the family and the dog ('poo bins' are available) of a weekend morning. It's always clean and tidy and is maintained to a good standard by the local land services who are based nearby. Also included in the grounds is an city farm type animal place for the kids which always looked interesting as we walked past from the convenient parking at the leisure centre that adjoins the park.

So Tollcross has a park and it's less than 15mins from us...who knew…read more I'm always looking for new places to walk the Dog as walking the same routes day in day out can be boring. So we decided to TC park a quick try. When we parked I was surprised how big it was, conscious it was about to get very dark very quick we choose a path that we knew we could loop back on but from the map it looked like you could take all sorts of natural walks. There is an animal farm for kids and some sheep! This not so little park is brilliant and ideal for dog walking. What I did like was that parts of it was lit! So rare to find lights in a park. Ideal for winter nights!

Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow has paved paths through large grassy areas and sculptures spattered…read morethroughout the park. I liked one lioness/panther sculpture in particular that had been presented by a John S. Kennedy, not sure what the S stands for. The paths could be confusing on first attempt, though I found I could consult my phone to help me find which path to take. A number of critters were out in the greenery the few times I walked through in July 2019. The hotel where I was staying had a small parking lot that was first-come first-serve, so I did most of my exploring on foot. Kelvingrove Park was one option if I wanted to take in the nature of Glasgow and did not want to walk along the street.

I ended up here on a vacation when I needed an easy place to get to from downtown Glasgow; yet…read morewanted to feel like I "got away from the city". There is SO much here: wooded trails, skatepark, a playground, bandstand, monuments, duck pond, tennis courts, and the art museum. I spent 2 hours wandering around and covered 4 miles (with stops) and didn't quite see all of it.