Kilsyth Heritage Circuit (6 miles)
Start at the entrance to Colzium Estate (now a public amenity) and follow the uphill access road over a bridge to reach the main house. Be sure to visit the walled garden which has ample seating within an oasis of pant life. A short detour into the glen reveals the excavated ice house. Hike up the road that sweeps around the garden, passing the scant remains of Colzium Castle. We join a minor road and follow this downhill for 200 yards before branching right to pick up a signed path which is the course of an old mineral railway - known locally as the High Line. A viaduct takes us across the narrow Garrel Glen
Modern streets occupy parts of the trackbed but we maintain a straight course, sloping downwards to meet the A803. Cross over to pick up Gavell Road and follow the signs into Drumbeck Nature Reserve. Keeping the pond on your left, follow the main track and bear left at a fork, then turn left again at a T-junction to parallel the course of the River Kelvin along another old freight line. Cross the Ebroch Burn on a bridge, ignoring an offshoot to the left that leads directly back to the town. Stick instead to the Kelvin until the path peters out at Auchenstarry Loch on the B802. Turn left, following the pavement back into the town centre and swing past the shops on Main Street to hook up with the A803 - the main through road. Turn right back towards Colzium and proceed for a few hundred yards before switching to the old main railway line after crossing Lochan Road. You parallel the main drag behind a row of new housing. This route terminates directly opposite the estate entrance where you began. An optional extra is to take the first right along to Banton Loch to view the memorial to the Battle of Kilsyth - a largely forgotten but bloody conflict.
