Killearn and Finnich Glen

Today my roommate and I headed out of Glasgow to the lovely village of Killearn and then onto Finnich Glen! We started the day catching the bus down the street that goes right to the village. It was our first time taking the bus here, so it was a little nerve-racking until we actually were on the bus. It was so easy though, and everyone is very helpful! It was about a 40 minute bus ride from Glasgow to Killearn, which took us through a couple of different towns and through some beautiful countryside. Once we got off the bus in Killearn, we decided to head straight out the Finnich Glen, as its about 2 miles from the village. On the way we go to see some more beautiful countryside a little more up close!

We then got to the glen and headed through the forest to Jacob's Ladder, the hundreds of years old staircase down into the gorge. It was very steep and very slippery, luckily there have been ropes installed along the walls to hold on to. Upon the final steps the gorge opens up to a beautiful little beach area.

1. Going down Jacob's Ladder 2. Downstream from the stairs 3. Along the "beach" 4. Upstream from the stairs (and me!)

As soon as you're in the gorge it's impossible to not notice the magic of the place. I felt immediately at peace, and didn't want to ever leave. I took a bunch of pictures, and filled a small bottle with some of the water before finally heading back up.

Now this place actually has two names, Finnich Glen, and Devil's Pulpit (because of the red water). The water appears very deep red, so deep in fact that at some points you can't even see the floor of the stream! While it may look like the stream is flowing with blood (why it got its name), its actually from sediment of the red sandstone that the gorge is sculpted from. From first glance though it definitely looks like blood, eery yet beautiful.

We then walked another 2 miles back to Killearn, where we stopped in one of the 2 places to eat in the village, Town and Country Designs, a cute cafe and gift shop. I had a pot of tea (of course) and a delicious piece of homemade quiche. We then explored the village a little bit while we waited for our bus, as they only come once every hour in Killearn. We looked around the outside of the Church of Scotland (unfortunately we couldn't get inside those beautiful blue doors), and over to the war cemetery and WWI memorial.

We then caught the bus back to Glasgow and enjoyed more views of Scottish countryside and towns. We are already planning another trip to the Devil's Pulpit as we didn't want to get soaked wading through the stream. There are apparently some stunning waterfalls further upstream in the gorge, so next time we'll be sure to wear some shorts and get up there!

I've compiled a short video with some more footage of our trip, be sure to check it out!