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The great outdoors: Close to hustle and bustle of the city, Renfrewshire’s Windy Hill is an oasis of peace and quiet

© Alamy Stock PhotoWindy Hill in Renfrewshire
Windy Hill in Renfrewshire

Right next to Scotland’s Central Belt is a massive expanse of countryside which can be quieter and feel more remote than the more popular “out of the way” destinations in the Highlands and Islands.

The Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park covers some 69,437 acres (28,100 hectares) of windswept hills and glens rolling down to the coast and the Firth of Clyde.

Windy Hill is a little summit with a view across this fantastic landscape and can be easily reached by most members of the family on a one-hour hike from the Muirshiel Visitor Centre.

There has been some great restoration and conservation work in this area at the top of the Calder Glen. Sitka spruce has been cleared and native woodland is being encouraged to take its place. This means wildlife is returning and the chances of seeing roe deer, black grouse and brown hares are increasing year on year.

The summit (Pic: Alamy)

There is also a programme to eradicate invasive rhododendron, a by-product of the land’s time as a Victorian shooting estate which was later visited by Winston Churchill. It is hard to imagine those bygone days as you walk up through young Scots pine, rowan and downy birch and emerge on to open moorland.

The top of the hill itself is easy to see as you follow an old stone wall across what can be boggy ground. At the small cairn on the summit, take time to enjoy a picnic if the weather is being kind and enjoy the view which also stretches east towards the edge of Glasgow and the Clyde Valley.

In spring and summer, it is also worth pausing up here, closing your eyes and listening to the cacophony of noise made by the small moorland birds which frequent this peaceful sanctuary in the back of beyond, yet little more than a stone’s throw from where most of Scotland’s human population lives.

Getting there

Car is definitely the best way to get there as the nearest bus stop is 3.7 miles (6km) away. The route is just a short trip south of Glasgow, follow the A737 south through Johnstone and then loop back on yourself through the small village of Howwood to take you into the regional park area.