• Home
  • About
  • Stay in touch
  • News
  • Business

MyParkScotland

discover and support parks across Scotland

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Why MyParkScotland?
  • Explore Parks
  • Activities & Events
    • Submit an event
  • Get Involved
    • Crowdfund Resource Kit
    • Crowdfunding Training
    • Submit a project
    • Ideas
    • Friends of Parks Groups
    • Volunteer
    • FAQ
  • Support Parks
    • Parks4Life Fund
    • MyParkProjects
    • Donate to a park
    • Donate National Nature Reserve
    • Completed MyPark Projects
  • Park Stories

Explore Parks

Cathkin Braes Country Park, Glasgow

About your park

Visit your park today

There is so much going on in parks across Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife and Glasgow so why not visit your local park today or use MyParkScotland events to plan your next visit.   Find out more about MyPark Scotland

Donate

If you would like to donate to this park please visit the Donate page or click the Make a Donation button below.

mps_fund

Activities & Events

Sorry, no events and activities found in this park
mypark events
View the calendar to see what’s happening in other parks.

If you are running an activity or event you can post it on the website.

Live Projects

There are currently no live projects for
Cathkin Braes Country Park, Glasgow
Cathkin Braes view View other live project funds
If your organisation wishes to propose a project for Cathkin Braes Country Park, Glasgow complete the Project Proposal Form

Park information

Cathkin Braes County Park covers a large area in the south east of Glasgow, approximately 8km from the city centre.

It is rich in history and a familiar landmark on the southern skyline reaching 200m above sea level, the highest point in Glasgow. The park is renowned for its panoramic views over the city and beyond. The east side of the park was designated a City-wide Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) in 1989 and the farmland in the west in 2009. The whole park is a proposed Local Nature Reserve.

The country park represents one of Glasgow’s richest habitat mosaics, with areas of long-established or ancient woodland, species-rich unimproved grassland, dwarf shrub heath, marsh, bracken and thorn scrub areas. The mosaic in turn supports a diverse range of animals, notably invertebrates and birds.

The country park is home to Glasgow’s international mountain bike trail which featured in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

History

The eastern part of the Country Park was gifted to the city in 1887 by millionaire Mr James Dick who stipulated that the open space most by retained in a natural state and open for public enjoyment.

The area was originally known as the Cathkin Hills and during the Iron Age a Celtic tribe known as the Damnonii lived here. The discovery of many artefacts has been recorded and several cairns still exist to this day.

Both the Big Wood and Cathkin Braes Park Wood are of ancient origin and appear on General Roy’s Military Survey (c1750).

Queen Mary’s seat is a large cairn in the area where Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have observed the defeat of her forces at the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1558.

Both Castlemilk and the Cathkin Hills formed part of the Carmunnock parish. Much of Cathkin Braes was originally part of the Castlemilk Estate owned by Sir John Stuart (Baronet).

A park pavilion was built around 1890 and was used regularly until the early 1980s when it had to be demolished for structural reasons.

At the beginning of the last century major events were held at the pavilion site including music concerts attracting crowds in excess of 10,000

Glasgow Corporation acquired the western part of the site from Castlemilk Estates in the 1940s

The Country Park initiative was established in 1995 after a consultative process in the local area supported by the Strathclyde Structure Plan and Carmunnock Local Plan.

Download the Cathkin Braes Country Park History

Download the Cathkin Braes Country Park Management Plan

Visit Glasgow City Council website for more info »

Visit website for more info »

Facilities

  • Car park
  • Cycle path (inc mountain bike trails)
  • Orienteering
  • Views
  • Walks
  • Wildflower meadows
  • Wildlife viewing
  • Woodland

Location

Cathkin Road, Glasgow G73 4SE

Stories

wow what a view

Although Cathkin can feel quite isolated on a grey day I would encourage people to get up there (more so on a sunny day) as the views across Glasgow are spectacular. Worth the walk up for sure.

john muir awards

I love Cathkin Braes because I went there on the John Muir awards school trip.

Share your story
  • This name will be publicly displayed on the website
  • Email addresses will be private and not publicly displayed on the website
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Ideas

Panoramic tearoom

Tearoom for hungry walkers and cyclists etc

Your rating: none
Rating: 5 - 3 votes
Suggest an idea
  • This name will be publicly displayed on the website
  • Email addresses will be private and not publicly displayed on the website
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

More Information

Click here to see the new ParkLife Newsletter which provides information, interesting facts, and details of a wide range of fantastic projects going on across our Parks and Open Spaces in Glasgow. www.glasgow.gov.uk/parklife

Contact the Friends of Cathkin Braes

Friends of Cathkin Braes Facebook Page

Friends of Glasgow Local Nature Reserves Facebook Page

This is a Fields In Trust protected site
Fields in Trust logo

If you would like an organisation to be listed here please fill out the Keep In Touch form and let us know!

  • Home
  • About
  • Why MyParkScotland?
  • FAQs
  • Explore Parks
  • Activities & Events
  • Get Involved
  • Support Parks
  • Park Stories
  • Keep in touch
  • Business
  • The small print
  • Contact Us
  • MyParkScotland Board

News

State of Scotland’s Greenspace Report Published

2nd February 2018

The third State of Scotland’s Greenspace Report was published by greenspace scotland on 1 February 2018, shpowing that Scotland can rightly […]

Newsletter January 2018

18th January 2018

We have already tiptoed past the midway point of January and we would like to with all the groups we  […]

See all news

Tweets by myparkscot

This project is funded by:

greenspace_scot_logo-300x140


MyParkScotland is a registered Scottish Charity (No. SC045424) and a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in Scotland (No. 497289)

  • Sitemap
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 MyParkScotland · Site designed by BOLD & built by graphics.coop · Powered by WordPress