Rouken Glen Park
Rouken Glen Park is one of my favourite places to walk dogs in Glasgow. It helps that’s it’s located towards the south west of the city centre where we and most of our clients are based. Whether you are new to Glasgow or have recently got a dog for the first time, hopefully this article will help explain why it’s such a good dog walking location.
History Of The Park
The lands that make up Rouken Glen park originally belonged to the Scottish Crown and then later to the Earl of Eglinton, Hugh Montgomerie. Covering 58 hectares, it takes its name from the old Rock End Meal Mill in the glen, which dates back to the early 16th century. The remains of the meal mill can be seen at the foot of the waterfall, deep within the foliage and bushes high on the slope away from the pathway.
Amongst the park’s owners were Walter Crum of Thornliebank and Archibald Cameron Corbett, MP for Tradeston, Glasgow who gifted the estate and mansion house to the citizens of Glasgow. It was officially opened on 25 May 1906 and leased in June 1984 to the then Eastwood District Council, whose area was later included by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994 into East Renfrewshire in April 1996.
Rouken Glen Park won the UK’s Best Park as voted by YOU, 2016 Award at the Fields In Trust awards ceremony on 30 November 2016 – coming top in a public vote from 214 nominated parks across the UK.
Rouken Glen Park Cafe & Facilities
Visitors to Rouken Glen Park will be pleased to know that it’s not short on facilities. The cafe is known as The Boathouse which you can see in the image at the top of this article. Open from 9am to 6pm, The Boathouse generally has very positive reviews and serves a selection of hot and cold food as well as drinks. Dogs are not allowed inside the cafe but there is nothing to stop you ordering something to take away if someone can stay with your dog outside while you place your order.
Dog owners will be pleased to know that Rouken Glen park has free parking. The main car park is by the Garden Centre. It can be busy at popular times of the day, summer weekends for example. The park also benefits from having free toilets so the needs of most visitors really are covered here.
Rouken Glen Park has a golf course which is part of the David Lloyd leisure centre. The boating pond (image below) was started in 1923 by Sir Robert McAlpine, replacing an earlier curling pond.
Rouken Glen Park for Dogs
Rouken Glen park has become an attractive location for the nearby community of dog walkers. Throughout the park are lots of beautiful, secluded little pathways which lead you to grass fields making it the perfect area for dog walking. On one pathway specifically you will even encounter a glamorous waterfall which is breath-taking – don’t worry the parks maintenance staff have taken the appropriate safety precautions and fenced round it so you can enjoy the view in peace with your dog.
Depending on what time of day you go the park the perfect opportunity arises to meet other dog owners which I believe is crucial for most dogs to get comfortable with being socialised. If, however you want a quiet walk with you and your dog here I would suggest a walk early on in the morning or late afternoon.
I hope this article has been helpful to potential visitors to Rouken Glen Park, whether you have a dog or not. You might also like to visit the following website to get more information about the park:
Feel free to leave a comment giving your thoughts about Rouken Glen Park, particularly if you use it to walk your dog(s). Hopefully we have some other articles soon about other great dog walking locations in Glasgow.
