Balloch Castle Country Park
Balloch Castle Country Park is on the southeastern shores of Loch Lomond and easily accessible by car and public transport. It provides a mixture of runnable park land, runnable forest, reasonable contour detail, buildings, a walled garden and a castle, and has great views over Loch Lomond. The permanent orienteering courses have been put together in collaboration with the West Dunbartonshire Council Ranger Service and are at beginner level. A great way to start orienteering!
For more information on the park, see the Balloch Castle Country Park website
Maps available online or from the Park Ranger
Balloch sits at the southern tip of Loch Lomond and has plenty to occupy a half-day before or after visiting Balloch Castle Country Park. Most visitors head for Loch Lomond Shores, a fifteen-minute walk from the railway station, where the Drumkinnon Tower houses the SEA LIFE Loch Lomond Aquarium and the surrounding complex offers shops, cafés, bike and boat hire, and a small beach with views up the loch. Sweeney's Cruises runs sightseeing trips on the loch from the River Leven jetty by the bridge opposite the station, and the Loch Lomond Waterbus uses the same pontoon for services to Luss and Balmaha. Other attractions within easy walking distance include the Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre, the TreeZone high-ropes course, and the Maid of the Loch, the last paddle steamer built in Britain, now berthed at Balloch Pier and undergoing restoration. For walkers and cyclists, Balloch is the meeting point of two of Scotland's Great Trails, the John Muir Way and the Three Lochs Way, and the start of the largely traffic-free West Loch Lomond Cycle Path along the western shore towards Luss and Tarbet.