Barcraigs reservoir from Howwood
Date: 10 August 2025
Leader: Gerry
Grade: C+
Number on walk: 10
Length 16 km. Ascent 350 m.
Hills climbed: Broadfield Hill.
Click here for GPX track of the walk
Leaving Howwood behind and climbing towards Skiff Wood we reached a viewpoint with extensive views over Paisley and Johnstone to the Kilpatrick Hills
Our group admiring the view from Broadfield Hill but obscuring the triangulation pillar
Our morning tea break taken on Walls Hill the site of an Iron Age hillfort
This site protected on three sides by natural cliffs was probably occupied between 700 BC and 100 AD but abandoned after the Romans arrived.
As we headed towards Barcraigs Reservoir we looked back to the hillfort on Walls Hill
Ahead of us was Barcraigs Reservoir, our next destination
Before a dam was built in 1870 the area occupied by Barcraigs Reservoir was a marsh which flooded in Winter to form a loch.
Lunch time at Barcraigs reservoir – looking across Rowbank Reservoir
Barcraigs Reservoir consists of two reservoirs, Rowbank Reservoir the more easterly reservoir was built first in 1870 and another dam was constructed in 1916 to create Barcraigs Reservoir. A causeway separates the two reservoir which have a height difference of 4 m. The name of Rowbank Reservoir is gradually falling out of use and the two reservoirs are collective now known as Barcraigs Reservoir.
Heading back to Howwood and all the hard work behind us
The final path back to Howwood was very overgrown but passable