Milngavie to Drymen, Stage 1 of the West Highland Way

What is the walking like?

Easy. Stage 1 never gets above about 139 metres and has no climb worth the name, which makes it the usual shakedown day: the one where you find out whether your boots and your pack actually agree with you before Conic Hill and the loch shore test them properly.

Underfoot it is good throughout. Park paths out of Milngavie, then a long level stretch on the bed of the old Blane Valley railway, then quiet lanes into Gartness and along Gartness Road. There is no rough ground and nothing exposed, so it walks well in poor weather.

What do you pass on the way?

The Way leaves Milngavie through Mugdock Country Park, which is where the walk stops feeling like a suburb and starts feeling like a walk. After that it drops into the Blane Valley with Dumgoyne ahead of you, and picks up the old railway line.

Glengoyne Distillery sits just off the trail in the valley and is the usual mid-morning stop. Just after it the Way runs through the car park of the Beech Tree Inn, the general stop for a pint, a snack or the toilet. Further on, five standing stones sit in a field below Dumgoyne. The last mile before us runs past the Pots of Gartness, where the Endrick Water drops through a series of rocky pools; salmon run it on their way upstream to spawn, best seen from September to November.

There is an honesty shop at the cottages by the Gartness bridge for cold drinks and snacks, and a couple of minutes before our gate the Altquhur Byre baking shed sells home baking, paid by card with a QR code.

Where does Stage 1 actually end?

This catches people out. The official West Highland Way does not go through Drymen village. It skirts round it, joining Gartness Road and carrying on north towards Garadhban Forest. The village sits about three quarters of a mile off the trail.

We are on Gartness Road, on the Way itself, about a mile before the point where most people turn off for the village. So if you are staying with us you walk to the gate and stop. If you want the village for a meal or for supplies it is a short walk on from us, and you rejoin the Way where you left it.

Can you do Stage 1 in an afternoon?

Plenty of people do. Five to six hours is the usual range, so a late-morning train to Milngavie still gets you here comfortably before dark through the main season. Check-in is from 14:00, and if you are going to arrive outside our hours it is worth calling ahead.

What you pass, in order

The numbers match the pins on the map.

1. 1 Mugdock Country Park About 451 metres off the Way.
2. 2 Dumgoyach Standing Stones About 201 metres off the Way.
3. 3 Glengoyne Distillery About 299 metres off the Way.
4. 4 Pots of Gartness Directly on the Way.

Where can you stop on this stage?

Distances are measured along the trail from our gate. We do not list opening hours: they change through the season and they are not ours to publish, so check with the business before you rely on one.

• Glengoyne Distillery Worth a look 4.5 mi before us

  A working distillery right beside the Way, and the usual mid-morning stop on Stage 1.

• The Beech Tree Inn Food and drink 3.9 mi before us

  Just after Glengoyne, with the Way running through its car park. The usual stop for a pint, a snack or the toilet, and where walkers most often ring us from.

• Turnip the Beet Food and drink 3.2 mi before us

  On the Way in the Blane Valley, a common lunch stop on the walk in from Milngavie.

• Gartness honesty shop Shop 1.2 mi before us

  At the cottages by the Gartness bridge, next to the Pots of Gartness. Cold drinks and snacks for the last stretch in.

• Altquhur Byre baking shed Shop at the campsite

  A self-service shed of home baking at Easter Drumquhassle Farm, a couple of minutes from our gate. Pay by card using the QR code.

• Toilets at the campsite

  Toilets and hot walk-in showers, included in every pitch.

• Drinking water Water at the campsite

  Drinking water on site. There is no water or electric hook-up on the pitches themselves.