Best Waterfalls in Glasgow & Lanarkshire
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best waterfalls in Glasgow & Lanarkshire are Rouken Glen Waterfall, Stonebyres Falls, Corrie Spout, Auchinlinnylinn Spout, Loup of Fintry Waterfall, Corra Linn, Spectacle E'e Falls and Falls of Clyde.
Glasgow and Lanarkshire pair a great city with the upper valley of the River Clyde and the hills that ring them, and their waterfalls run from well-known set pieces to quiet, half-hidden spouts. The grandest lie on the Clyde itself near New Lanark, where the river drops over high rock faces at Corra Linn and its neighbours, together the Falls of Clyde, with the separate Stonebyres Falls a little downstream.
Closer to the city, the Auldhouse Burn tumbles through the wooded glen of Rouken Glen Park. Out on the northern fringe, where the Campsie Fells and Fintry Hills rise, the Endrick leaps at the Loup of Fintry and small burns drop at Corrie Spout and Auchinlinnylinn, while the Kype Water falls at Spectacle E'e near Strathaven, wrapped in an old local tale.
Some are easy walks in busy parks; others are quiet, unsigned corners of moorland and gorge. From the Clyde gorge to the hill country, here are eight waterfalls to seek out.
Rouken Glen Waterfall
Photo: Josie Campbell via Geograph.org.uk
Rouken Glen Waterfall is a cascade on the Auldhouse Burn in the wooded glen of Rouken Glen Park, a large public park on the southern edge of Glasgow. Part natural and part built up in Victorian times to power a mill, the falls tumble through the trees, with the iron and timber remains of that old industry still around them.
Boardwalks and woodland paths, steep and slippery when wet, lead down to view the water, and the wider park has a boating lake, a walled garden and a cafe. It is a well-used green space close to the city.
Stonebyres Falls
Photo: Alan Pitkethley via Geograph.org.uk
Stonebyres Falls is a waterfall on the River Clyde near Lanark in South Lanarkshire, the lowest of the group known as the Falls of Clyde. The river drops in a stepped cascade into a wooded gorge, at its most powerful after heavy rain, viewed from a spot near the road below Kirkfieldbank.
A hydro-electric station built in the 1920s stands beside the falls and draws off some of the water. It is a separate fall from the better-known Corra Linn upstream at New Lanark, a quieter cousin on the same great river.
Corrie Spout
Photo: Robert Murray via Geograph.org.uk
Corrie Spout is a small waterfall on the Corrie Burn in the Kilsyth Hills, about fifteen miles northeast of Glasgow, near historic local waterworks. It drops off the rocks in quiet hill country, though it is now hard to see well: new deer fencing put up to protect plantations of young native trees, together with the lie of the land, blocks a clear view of the main part of the fall.
It is an obscure spot rather than a set attraction, in the moorland fringe north of the city.
Auchinlinnylinn Spout
Photo: hugh mcleish via Geograph.org.uk
Auchinlinnylinn Spout is a small waterfall on the River Carron in central Scotland, in the wooded valley just below the Carron Valley Reservoir. The river drops over rock here in an out-of-the-way stretch between the Campsie Fells to the south and the Fintry hills to the north.
Very little is written about it and there is no signposted path, so it stays quiet. The setting is rough moorland and scattered trees, with the young Carron running through.
Loup of Fintry Waterfall
Photo: Robert Murray via Geograph.org.uk
The Loup of Fintry is a waterfall on the River Endrick a couple of miles east of Fintry village, in the hills between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills. The water drops in a cascade of around twenty-nine metres, and loup is the Scots word for a leap.
A lay-by on the road nearby holds a few cars, with a short, often boggy path to a view of the falls and a trail up toward the top of the drop. It is a quiet roadside spot with picnic places looking over the cascade.
Corra Linn
Photo: Derek Harper via Geograph.org.uk
Corra Linn is the largest of the Falls of Clyde, a set of waterfalls in a wooded gorge on the River Clyde near New Lanark. The river drops in tiers over a rock face of around twenty-six metres, framed by oak woodland that is run as a wildlife reserve.
A path from the old mill village leads to a viewpoint beside the ruined Bonnington Pavilion. Much of the water is taken off for a hydro scheme, so the falls run fullest after heavy rain.
Spectacle E'e Falls
Photo: Alan O'Dowd via Geograph.org.uk
Spectacle E'e Falls is a waterfall on the Kype Water near the village of Sandford, close to Strathaven in South Lanarkshire. A circular walk of a few miles from Strathaven leads to it, passing the ruins of old mills along the way, with a walkway and a viewing point over the fall.
The odd name, meaning spectacle eye, comes from a local tale: a young man, spurned by the miller whose daughter he loved, is said to have set the mill's thatch alight with a burning glass in revenge. It is a family-friendly walk with the folklore adding to the draw.
Falls of Clyde
Photo: Derek Harper via Geograph.org.uk
The Falls of Clyde are a series of waterfalls on the River Clyde in a wooded gorge beside the old mill village of New Lanark, run as a wildlife reserve by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. A riverside path from the village leads up past the falls of Dundaff Linn, Corra Linn and Bonnington Linn, the largest dropping over high rock faces.
Much of the water is taken off above the falls for a hydro scheme, so the river runs low when it is generating and rises fast when it is off. Peregrine falcons nest in the gorge, watched over from the reserve in the breeding season.
FAQs
What is the biggest waterfall near Lanark?
Corra Linn is the largest of the Falls of Clyde, dropping over a rock face of around twenty-six metres in the wooded gorge above New Lanark near Lanark. Because much of the water is drawn off for a hydro scheme, it runs at its most powerful after heavy rain, as does the separate Stonebyres Falls downstream.
Is there a waterfall in Glasgow itself?
Yes, Rouken Glen Waterfall, on the Auldhouse Burn in Rouken Glen Park on the southern edge of Glasgow, tumbles through a wooded glen once used to power a mill. Boardwalks and paths lead down to it, and the park around it holds a boating lake, walled garden and cafe.
How did Spectacle E'e Falls near Strathaven get its name?
Spectacle E'e Falls, on the Kype Water near Sandford close to Strathaven, takes its name from a local tale meaning spectacle eye, in which a young man spurned by the miller whose daughter he loved set the mill's thatch alight with a burning glass in revenge. It is reached on a circular walk from Strathaven past old mill ruins.
Conclusion
Glasgow and Lanarkshire keep their finest water in the Clyde gorge and the hills around the city. At New Lanark the river thunders over Corra Linn and its neighbours as the Falls of Clyde, with Stonebyres a quieter step downstream.
In the city itself, Rouken Glen slips through wooded parkland close to the streets. Out on the northern fringe, the Endrick leaps at the Loup of Fintry, the Carron drops at Auchinlinnylinn, the burn falls half-hidden at Corrie Spout, and the Kype Water tells its old tale at Spectacle E'e near Strathaven.
Some are grand and much visited, others quiet and unsigned, best after rain when the water is high. These are the waterfalls to seek out across Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
