This is such a peaceful tranquil area, a beautiful quiet peaceful place where you will see people…read morefish in the reservoir, trails and rock pools. There are beautiful lush trees, fields and the larger Threipmuir reservoir nearby overlooking the black hills! This is also a great place for dog walkers on a lovely sunny day!

Harlaw reservoir is located within the Pentlands Hills Regional Park…read more Ample parking on site and free to the public. Very peaceful and serene, there is also another reservoir nearby and the trail walk takes just under one hour. Also has great views of the mountains and depending where you are, the forth bridge against the sky. It's also only about 30 minutes from the city centre but feels like you're somewhere else, a new favorite place for a relaxing Sunday morning walk.

Wondering where to go to take some fresh air? Reaching the lake will take you good half an hour…read morestroll from the main gates on Holyrood Park Road. Follow the small path walk between the Craigs and Arthur's seat. Be ready to meet dogs and their owners on the way as it is a favourite path. You won't be able to see the lake from a distance as it is located at the foot of a small hill. Near the lake there are remnants from a chapel which could serve you as a sign for the right direction. It is a beautiful and quiet place. There are benches to sit around the lake and feed the geese if you want. Usually, there aren't many visitors, so on a good sunny day it could be the perfect place for a picnic.

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.

Well it's easy for me to give this loch 5 stars because it is one of my very favourite places to…read morevisit! I've walked the paths and roads around here over many years and I learnt to drive on some of them too. This is the largest of a group of reservoirs in this area and named after the engineer Robert Thom (1774 - 1847). He designed the scheme to create this reservoir which has provided Greenock with water since 1827. A wonderful place to take a walk - you won't meet many people either. There are two nearby cafes and a large free car park. Video link: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AGNIjq-60ns

I'm not the best person to review this as a place to fish (so hopefully someone else will) but I…read morehave visited the cafe there and found it to be a very pleasant and nice place to have a lovely cup of tea and hot snack! It's also friendlier than the nearby Cornalees cafe (at least, it was on the one occasion I was there). Fishing apart, this is a great place to start a walk around one of the reservoirs in the area or along the Greenock Cut.

Been Fishing Ardgowan for sometime now and would say its my favourite loch. I feel the fishing is…read moregreat with the fish in the loch being so healthy and put up a great fight. I feel its great for the money you pay and thats what everybody wants. The cafe is a very welcoming atmoshpere and you also have a variety of foods and drinks for great prices too. WELL DONE ROBERT , Keep the good work up

An attractive small reservoir right beside the road between Largs and Loch Thom. You can park on…read morethe roadside or in the adjacent car park (just north of the reservoir). There is also a picnic area, and some moorland trails you can follow on foot. I'm told it's a good spot for birdwatching too but I only stopped to photograph the reservoir itself. You can only get here by car unless you are a very good walker. (The reservoir isn't shown on the Google map, unfortunately, but the arrow is in the right place because I put it there!)

Officially named as two reservoirs although one flows into the other. They are located east of Loch…read moreThom in Inverclyde in the hills above Greenock and one of my favourite places to visit. There is a rough track on the southern banks which you can drive along and there are a few parking bays overlooking the water. The views are beautiful of the reservoirs, the hills on the other side and the forest to the south. The nearest cafe and other facilities can be found at the Cornalees Bridge Centre on the other side of Loch Thom. A marvellous place for a walk and well worth a visit all year round.

It might be a mystery but Castle Semple does not really have a castle. So don't be disappointed if…read morea visible castle is not apparent. If you walk about a mile north on the shared path, you will come to the Collegiate Church that is worth seeing. Close by are "The Cascades". Still don't know why that is their name but it is a really interesting diversion. Then back through Parkhill Woods with the Totem Pole and a wee bit of deviation, the rhododendron maze. A wonderful day out. Just, please, don't ride bikes over the pedestrian pathways. They just churn the pathways to mud and kills accessibility for those in wheelchairs or those who find walking on loose surfaces difficult. Thank you for your attention.

Great for walking along the side of the loch from the visitor centre; very attractive with the loch…read moreon one side and fields full of cows on the other. The visitor centre is large, overlooking the water, and you can buy some gifts there. There are many snacks available in the cafe - we would wish for a bit more choice; I'm sure if they offered a full menu (including some vegetarian choices) they would get the custom. It always seems to be popular and quite busy (when we've gone there anyway).