Torwood to Carron Reservoir, Central Scotland

Torwood to Carron Reservoir

Torwood is a tiny village just to West of my home town of Falkirk. It is the ideal starting off point for many local rides and this particular one takes you on one of the longer rides through some gorgeous countryside to the tiny hamlet of Shielbrae just outside Stirling. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen along the way from buzzards and ospreys to deer, particularly as you pass the North Third Reservoir towards the middle section of the ride.  Most of the ride is on quiet country roads with very little traffic.  The first part of the ride does involve some climbing but it is long and gentle over quite a distance so not too taxing. Once you have passed North Third Reservoir however things change as we start climbing over Shielbrae.

A brae in Scots is a gentle hill or incline. See if you agree with that interpretation?! From the small hamlet of Shielbrae just outside Stirling, we start climbing up over Earls Hill rising to 360m above sea level. From there is a short downhill section before another short climb and then you crest the hill at Easter Cringate to what is one of my favourite views in Scotland looking West towards Loch Lomond. From there it's all downhill until you reach Carron Reservoir.

Unfortunately the day I did this although it was bright sunshine it had been -2c when I started out and the sun hadn't got to the roads in the latter section so they were still very icy. I, therefore, didn't take the last downhill section quite as fast as I would normally have.