Loch Humphrey

Loch Humphrey is a freshwater loch in West Dunbartonshire, set high in the Kilpatrick Hills at 322 metres above sea level. It lies surrounded by low peaks: Craigarestie, Darnycaip, Fynloch Hill and The Slacks, none rising more than 80 metres above its surface. The nearest villages—Bowling, Milton and Dumbarton—cluster along the River Clyde five kilometres to the southwest, while Old Kilpatrick sits three kilometres south. A partly metalled road branches off the A82 at Old Kilpatrick and winds up to the loch’s empty shoreline. The loch measures up to 1.2 kilometres long and 580 metres wide, with a shoreline of about three kilometres enclosing 27 hectares of water. Its average depth of 5.8 metres holds roughly 1.58 million cubic metres of water, fed by a catchment of 2.06 square kilometres that reaches north to the higher Fyn Loch. The Black Burn carries water from Fyn Loch into the loch’s north-west corner, while the Loch Humphrey Burn leaves at the east end and, after a short run, fills Greenside Reservoir. From there the water travels by Duntocher Burn into the River Clyde and on to the Firth of Clyde. Visitors reach the loch along the single track from Old Kilpatrick and find an uninhabited shoreline of rough grass and heather. The water is calm and often reflects the surrounding hills in still weather. A small dam at the south-east outlet regulates the level for Scottish Water’s regional supply network. Beyond the dam a path follows the outflow burn eastward toward Greenside Reservoir, offering quiet walks among heather and bilberry.