The park was formerly a private estate and given in 1919
to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park.
It was designated a country park in 1984.
Drumpellier Country Park
contains two
natural lochs
( one being a Site of Special Scientific Interest - SSSI ),
lowland heath, mixed woodlands and open grassland.
The Monklands Canal
lies towards the
southern perimeter of the park.
The lochs and the canal attract a large number of water
birds,
both resident ( such as swans and mallard ducks )
and over-wintering
migrants,
and the loch shores and woodland floor
provide an abundance
of
wild flora.
The woodlands are also rich in bird life,
small wild animals
and
many types of fungi.
Lochend
Loch
at Drumpellier
Country Park
Swan
and anglers
at Lochend Loch
Lochend
Loch
at Drumpellier
Country Park
Lochend
Loch
at Drumpellier
Country Park
Swans
at Drumpellier
Country Park
Gardens
at Drumpellier
Country Park
Gardens
at Drumpellier
Country Park
The
Pond
at Drumpellier Country Park
Daffodils
at Drumpellier Country Park
Bullrushes
in Loch
at Drumpellier Country Park
Route
Map
of Drumpellier Country Park
DRUMPELLIER
PARK
WALK - ROUTE DESCRIPTION:
Location: Coatbridge
Map: OS Landranger 64 [GR 704 665]
Distance: 7km [4 miles]
Time: 2hr 30mins
Terrain: Mostly waymarked paths
This walk explores the lochs and parkland of Drumpellier Country Park
plus the most westerly section of the Monkland Canal.
North Lanarkshire Council recently upgraded and expanded the park’s
paths along with the canal towpath east of the park and more will
follow.
The westerly section of the canal path is clear and generally firm, but
not yet upgraded.
From
the car park beyond the visitor centre follow the path over the
small bridge and around the left side of Lochend Loch. Leave the loch
side for a tarmac track sign-posted for a nursery, then leave it
for a gravel path on the left that brings you on to the nursery access
road. Turn left, then right, on to another path into woodland and
follow it to the railway. Go through a metal kissing gate and over the
railway bridge. Follow the track left, then right at the
next junction to cross a bridge over the canal to arrive at Drumpellier
Home Farm. Scramble down on the left, to gain the gravel pathway of the
canal towpath. Turn left to pass under the bridge.
The first section of the canal is unprepossessing, but as you leave the
buildings behind, the landscape becomes increasingly rural.
Roads and railways have chopped the canal into separate sections but
the water is far from lifeless as occasional herons show.
This section is truncated by the railway and the return route on the
other side of the canal is less attractive so you may wish to retrace
your steps to the metal kissing gate by the railway bridge.
If you continue, cross the canal at the culvert below the railway and
gain a grassy track leading across open ground.
As the path enters woodland keep right at the junction on to more
defined track ( but muddier, and rubbish strewn ). Follow it back to the
railway bridge and cross but do not go through the metal
kissing gate. Instead, turn immediately left on to a grassy track
running parallel to the railway. It continues into open fields
planted with new trees and meets a new gravel path.
Follow this to a T-junction beside ruined buildings, where you turn
left to reach a high point by a round wood. Descend to a stile and
woodland path. Follow it over board walks through marshy
woodland to arrive on a straight section with the nursery visible at
its end. Turn left to gain Lochend Loch and left again to
follow the tarmac path around to the causeway between it and West Pond
to arrive back at the visitor centre and car park.