Biskir one

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Leaving Kirkintilloch I was straight onto the tarmacked towpath, which soon became more rural, with views through the hedge to the Fells of Campsie. There were lots of walkers and cyclists, but no boats.
The canal is crossed twice by the route of the Antonine Wall, but I don’t think there is much of it visible here, just a couple of information boards.
It was a very hot sunny day and there was not much shelter from the sun, but there was a lovely shaded footpath after crossing canal at Cadder. Generally there were no barriers to wheels except one place with a 50cm gap around a cycle barrier.
After leaving the canal I zigzagged through housing and then walked through a pleasant park to reach the end point, and a very nice café near the station. A great route!.

This is a fairly straightforward and easy route to walk taking approximately 2 hours to walk the route.

The route itself is fairly flat for about 4 miles of the journey with the Bishopbriggs side being the most elevated. This walk should be suitable for most people, however some people with mobility issues way have difficulty in going down and up the slopes to the canal path when they are intersected by a road or at the begining and end of the canal path section. The vast majority of the journey is tarmaced pathway and pavements with only a small section being compacted dirt and stone. There are also a few gates on to prevent vehicles accessing the canal path, but there is big enough space at the side of the gatas to get past with a bike, buggy or wheenchair.

However, one thing we did come across on our journey was a tractor cutting the foliage at the side of the path. The tractor took up the entire path and we had to climb off the path down as small path to allow it to pass, this is something to consider is you are planning on going with childre or taking a bike or mobility aid with you as it would be difficult to take these off the path with you whilst the tractor passed.

Overall the path is pretty easy to walk and fairly quiet. Fellow walkers and cyclists using the path were all friendly and quick to advise they were passing by.

Review of SlowWays Route Biskir one (Bishopbriggs to Kirkintilloch)
I walked this route (in reverse) on a bright autumn afternoon and enjoyed it very much. The route begins (or ends) in the centre of Kirkintilloch and very quickly joins the towpath next to the Forth and Clyde Canal heading west. The surface is well-used and obviously popular with cyclists, buggy-pushers and people just taking a short cut to the western part of the town. As the route heads out into open countryside there are fewer people around, allowing some nice spells of solitude. Eventually the canal arrives in the village of Cadder where the recommended route crosses the bridge and joins a packed earth path on the other (south) bank. This soon turns into a more substantial footpath which arrives in Bishopbriggs at the town’s Leisure Centre. The remainder of the route is a simple zig-zag along quiet, suburban streets and a final stretch through a pleasant park to the town’s main street and Bishopbriggs Cross. This is a well-established and popular route but probably a little too long to be walked as a regular commute (although perfectly achievable by bike). As a leisure route it is ideal.

Easy and pleasant walk mostly along the Forth and Clyde Canal. The route was easy to follow throughout.

I walked direction Kirkintilloch to Bishopbriggs. Kirkintilloch is a small town with some rather good coffee shops near the Meeting Point. It's a 'Walkers are Welcome' town, so altogether an excellent start!

A short walk along the high street leads to the canal towpath. The towpath has an easy walking asphalt surface, and is popular with cyclists, almost all of whom tinged their bells and gave cheery 'hellos' and 'thank yous' for stepping aside. The canal is very quiet, a handful of moored narrow boats but nothing on the move.
There's a refreshment opportunity at a canalside pub about 2km out of Kirkintilloch, but I pushed on.

At Cadder (interesting church) the route leaves the main canal towpath, crosses a bridge, and continues along a quieter footpath on the south side of the canal. Anyone who prefers the easy asphalt surface could if they wanted continue along the north bank. I enjoyed the 'road less travelled' that the route line follows on the less popular south side, no stepping aside for cyclists, but it is a narrower unmade footpath with the occasional puddle (the first two photos are of this part of the route).

The path emerges at a Leisure Centre on the outskirts of Bishopbriggs, and from here I walked through a pleasant housing estate which led to Bishopbriggs Town Centre Public Park. Then it's a short way along the main street to the Meeting Point opposite the station.

I really enjoyed this walk and it gets a full 5 stars from me!.

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