Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages – ROUTE DETAILS

The following is a brief summary of the key details for Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages.

Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages is one of the cycle routes in Scotland that I have cycled over the years. Some of the other routes I have cycled over the years are listed in the page “Cycle Routes in Scotland”. (Click here to go to this page.)

Route map

The map above is an interactive map so if you press “Play” (click on the white triangle in the middle of the screen) you can zoom in or out by pressing the buttons that appear in the top left of the screen, and you can move the map by dragging it. Once you press Play the hills profile of the route will appear at the bottom of the map. You can get further comprehensive detailed analysis of the hill profile by clicking on “More Detailed Profile” at the top left of the hills profile section. You can also select full screen mode by clicking on the icon in the top right corner of the map.

Route Details –

Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages

Start Point

The route starts at the large, free car park at the entertainment centre at Braehead (previously called “Soar” now called “XSite”).

Renfrew – Inchinnan

From here you cycle along the shared use pavement all the way along to the traffic lights at the end of Kings Inch Road. At this point you leave the cycle path, and the rest of the route back to this point is mostly on quiet roads.

At the traffic lights you turn left onto Ferry Road and then immediately turn right into Campbell Street. Further along turn right into Hamilton Crescent and at the end of this road turn right into Blythswood Road. Here the road ends after a short distance, but you can continue straight ahead on a short path through small woods. This leads to a road where you veer left onto North Lodge Road. Continue on this road all the way to it’s end, emerging at Inchinnan Road where you turn right.

Follow Inchinnan Road for a few hundred yards and you will come to an unusual bridge over a river called the White Cart Water. This type of bridge is called a Scherzer Rolling Lift Bascule Bridge. It is the only remaining rolling lift bridge in the country. The carriageway on the bridge is narrow so care should be taken.

At the other end of the bridge take the right hand junction onto the A8 Greenock Road. Cycle along and up the slight hill and turn right at the traffic lights. This takes you into the village of Inchinnan.

The banner at the start of the village contains the date 597 A. D. but I have not noticed any historical buildings in the village. However, I have only cycled through the village along this main road, which is called the Old Greenock Road. Here all the buildings are of a relatively modern vintage.

Inchinnan – Houston

After cycling up the main road of the village return to the traffic lights and turn right onto the A8 Greenock Road. Follow the road to a small roundabout, where you continue straight ahead. You then pass by the art deco India of Inchinnan building, which is a Category A listed building.

It was the former office block of the India Tyre and Rubber Company that closed down many years ago. After lying derelict for many years the building went through a multi-million pound refurbishment in 2003. It is now a commercial centre.

Continue on the Greenock Road until you come to a roundabout called the Red Smiddy Roundabout. Here turn left onto the A726. Cycle along for a short distance and turn first right into the B790 Houston Road. Continue on this quiet road through open countryside until you reach the village of Houston.

In Houston cycle along to a large roundabout. Go straight ahead on the B790, which is now called the Bridge of Weir Road. At the top of the hill turn right and cycle down to the village Main Street, where refreshments are available.

Houston – Bridge of Weir

Cycle back up and turn right onto the B790, which takes you all the way to the village of Bridge of Weir.

When you reach the junction with the A761 road in Bridge of Weir turn left. Cycle along the Main Street where there are shops, cafes and restaurants.

Bridge of Weir – Lochwinnoch

From the centre of Bridge of Weir go back up the Main Street to the traffic lights and turn left into Torr Road. Then cycle along and up the hills through pleasant countryside. At the first junction take the left fork along the road that leads to the B786. Here turn left and cycle up a long, steep hill that continues for about two miles.

After reaching the top of the hill, continue cycling down the very steep hills to Lochwinnoch. You will pass by a small car park on the right with a sign indicating a walk to Muirshiel Country Park. The road continues downwards. Further along it passes by the single track road on the right that leads to Muirshiel Country Park. Just past this there is a road to the left that goes to Howwood,. You need to come back up to this road after cycling to Lochwinnoch. Continue the descent down on the B786 where the final stretch down into Lochwinnoch is really steep.

In Lochwinnoch cycle to the end of the Main Street, where there are some shops, a cafe and a takeaway.

Lochwinnoch is adjacent to Castle Semple Loch, which has a visitors centre, water sports and bike hire. To get there from the end of the Main Street in Lochwinnoch cycle down Church Street. Then turn right into Lochhead Avenue. Here you can pick up the NCN 7 cycle path that soon leads to Castle Semple Loch.

Lochwinnoch – Howwood

The next stage in the route is to cycle back up the way you had come, to get to the road to Howwood. You can return to the village by cycling back along to the other end of the car park from the visitors centre. Then turn right into St. Winnocks Road. This leads you to the start of the Main Street where you first entered Lochwinnoch. Turn right here and immediately climb up the steep hill you came down to get to Lochwinnoch.

Thankfully you only have to cycle part-way up the steep hill before you turn right into the road to Howwood. This road is called Bridesmill Road. However there is still a bit of a climb to get up to the top of this road. From the top there are fine views down over Castle Semple Loch and the surrounding hills.

After this it is downhill for a stretch then there is a small climb up a hill called the Bunker Hill. There is then a welcoming free-wheel down into Howwood.

In Howwood there is a shop, a cafe and a restaurant. There is also a small grassy area just across from the cafe. Here there are some benches where you can rest.

Howwood – Kilbarchan

You cycle back out of Howwood by the way you had come in. Then when you reach the signposted cut-off to Kilbarchan you turn right. This road continues through open countryside until it reaches Kilbarchan. Here, at a junction with Burntshields Road, you turn right into Church Street. This leads to the main road in Kilbarchan.

When you get to the end of Church Street, just round the corner to the right there are some benches where you can rest. These benches are just before the Steeple Building that is a landmark building in Kilbarchan.

Although it looks like a church it was actually built as a school and market. Half-way up the steeple section of the building there is a statue of Kilbarchan’s famous left-handed piper, Habbie Simpson. He was the town piper in the late sixteenth century. To this day inhabitants of Kilbarchan are sometimes referred to as “Habbies”.

In Kilbarchan there are a couple of bar/restaurants, a cafe and some shops.

Kilbarchan – Houston

To continue the route return to the junction at Church Street and turn right into New Street. Cycle past one of the bar/restaurants now called Habbies. Cycle along this road until you come to the junction with the A761 Bridge of Weir Road, where you turn right. A short distance later turn left into Sandholes Road.

Continue along this road as it winds it’s way down and eventually reaches a junction with the A761 Barochan road. Here you turn left and cycle back to Houston. This road leads to a large roundabout in Houston. This is the roundabout that you passed through at the start of the circular section of the route.

Houston – Renfrew

Here turn right onto Houston Road and follow the route back to the start point at Braehead in Renfrew.

Route Alternatives

Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages

The route could be significantly shortened by cutting out the section from Renfrew to Houston. Thus you would just be doing the circular section of the route. This would reduce the overall distance by about 15 miles, resulting in a circular route of about 26 miles.

It is possible to eliminate the hilly section between Lochwinnoch and Howwood. You can do this by cycling along the section of the NCN 7 cycle path that connects the two villages. The cycle path runs along and above the back of the visitors centre at Castle Semple Loch. It can be accessed by a steep ramp to the left of the visitors centre. Alternatively, by a more gradual incline at the other end of the car park from the visitors centre. When you cycle along the cycle path to Howwood you will come across two signs for Howwood. Ignore the first one as this is a rough walkers path. Turn right at the second sign and follow the path up to a road where you turn left. This is the road you would have taken if you had followed the original route, and it leads down into Howwood.

Cafe/toilet stops –

Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages

At the start of the route, in the Braehead entertainment complex there are several bar/restaurants and many other eating places. There are also public toilets in the complex.

At Inchinnan there is the Braehead Tavern that serves food. Also, the Post Office/shop next to the Braehead Tavern sells takeaway snacks.

In Houston village there is the Houston Inn and the Fox and Hounds Inn that both serve food. There is also a coffee shop called the Cafe @ the Carrick, which is in the Carrick Centre on the Main Street.

In Bridge of Weir there are several bar/restaurants. There is also Bernie’s Cafe/Deli (shown on the left of the photo above). Here you can sit outside on the wide pavement when weather permits. There is also a Home Bakers that sells hot and cold takeaway food and drinks. There is a large Co-op store as well as several other shops.

On the corner of High Street and Church Street in Lochwinnoch there is the Junction Cafe that serves Scottish and Italian food. There is also a bakers on Main Street that sells hot and cold takeaway food and drinks. At Castle Semple Loch there is a visitors centre and there are public toilets. In the visitors centre there is a cafe/shop, but the cafe only sells sandwiches, tea and coffee, etc.. There is a toilet for customers in the cafe.

In Howwood there is a restaurant called the Boarding House and there is a coffee shop called Coffee & Cream.

Kilbarchan has two bar/restaurants and a coffee shop. The coffee shop is called Bobbins. It is next to the Steeple Building just past where you turn right at Church Street when you first come into Kilbarchan (see photo above). The Trust Inn is a bit further down the main road on the right, past the Co-op grocery store. When you come back up to the junction at Church Street and turn right into New Street there is a family friendly bar/restaurant called Habbies. (It is named after the sixteenth century town piper as mentioned above.)

Train options –

Cycle Routes in Scotland : Renfrewshire Villages

If you want to access the start of the route by train your options to do so will of course depend on where you live and what train lines are nearby and where they run to, which each person will need to investigate for themselves. For a website that can help with this click on the following website address : https://www.thetrainline.com. Some possible train options are outlined below.

Although there is no train station in Renfrew you could take the train to the nearest main station, which is Paisley Gilmour Street. You can then cycle to the start point in Renfrew from there. However, this would involve cycling on some busy roads for about 3.5 miles, and thus this would add about 7 miles overall to the journey time.

An alternative is to start the route at one of the two villages in the route where there are train stations. The first one is at Lochwinnoch. Here the train station is on the A760 road, just past and across from the RSPB Nature Reserve. There is a direct train link from Lochwinnoch Station that takes about 15 minutes to Paisley Gilmour Street station. It takes about 25 minutes to Glasgow Central Station. Trains normally run every half hour.

The other village with a train station is Howwood where the train station is on Station Road. This road is part of the route and is the road you cycle on to go down into Howwood. There is a direct train link from Howwood that takes about ten minutes to Paisley Gilmour Street station. It takes about about twenty minutes to Glasgow Central Station. Trains normally run every half hour.