Cowie Water

Cowie Water is a river in north-east Scotland that begins high in the Grampian Mountains and flows east for about twenty kilometres to reach the North Sea just north of Stonehaven. It passes through rolling farmland and the old estates of Kincardineshire before cutting through a narrow wooded valley near the coast. The ruined Cowie Castle stands on its north bank where the river meets the sea. Two burns join the main stream: the Burn of Monboys from the north and the Cowton Burn from the south-west.

The river is recognised for its steady summer flow of around five cubic metres per second at the mouth, measured in July. Water tests then show a slightly alkaline pH of 8.2 and a temperature near twelve degrees Celsius, with very low electrical conductivity. After a single centimetre of rain, turbidity rises to fourteen JTU within twenty-four hours. Nearby lie the remains of Raedykes Roman Camp on the Burn of Monboys and the coastal castles of Dunnottar, Fetteresso and Muchalls.

Visitors can follow the river’s lower reaches through a strip of woodland that opens onto the beach where Cowie Castle once guarded the shore. The path runs beside the Cowton Burn and the Burn of Monboys, both lined with alder and willow. From the river mouth the coast curves north to the cliffs of Dunnottar Castle and south to the estuary of Carron Water, offering long views along the North Sea.