Pesda Whitewater Mini-Guide
KINGLAS
#07
WHEREVER THERE’S WATER
sponsored by
Kinglas, Loch Lomond & Argyll | Neil Farmer
INTRODUCTION The river follows an open, steep-sided
DESCRIPTION The first half of the river is pool drop in
glen from just below the ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ pass to Loch
character, with many grade 4 drops that become much harder
alpine style river. It rises and falls quickly, but is more than
marks a hard and dangerous drop (Gd 5). After this, the run
Fyne. A firm favourite, the Kinglas is a steep and continuous worth the effort.
WATER LEVEL Wet/Very wet. This is a run to do whilst
it’s still raining, or has only just stopped. Heavy localised rain
in high water. The point where the forest meets the river becomes more continuous, and perhaps half a grade harder
than in the upper section. If you weren’t psyched enough already, the river now whisks you off into the darkness of the
tunnel under the road bridge. But don’t worry, so far every-
the night before is a good sign. A new hydro scheme has been
one who has gone in has reappeared, just in time to face the
series of slabs where the river steepens and should be portaged.
centre left.
built on the upper half of this run. The new intake weir is at a
The amount of water taken by the scheme (1cumec) is relatively small, so hopefully not too much paddling will be lost.
GAUGE There are rock slabs under Butterbridge, the old
narrow gorge which follows. The final weir should be run
OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS Watch out for fallen trees
and for a footbridge, which may be partially submerged at high flows leaving just a wire to catch the unwary, about 1km
stone road bridge at the top of the glen. If these are covered,
above the tunnel, across a narrow slot.
top section will be serious, and the gorge harder still.
and taking out at the island behind the small telephone
the river is on. If the water level is up to or over the banks, the
ACCESS Put on at Butterbridge, found on the A83 from
Tarbet to Inveraray, 2 miles upstream from the junction with the A815. Take out where the A83 meets Loch Fyne and the
Cairndow village road. There is a convenient bus shelter here
in which to await the shuttle. Alternatively a warm drink can be had at the hotel in Cairndow.
If the river is very high consider just tackling the upper half
exchange building.
Please do not drive down the private road on river left of the lower section.
Contributor: Neil Farmer Excerpt adapted from Scottish White Water, the SCA Guidebook ISBN 0954706110, published by Pesda Press, Caernarfon. For details of this and other books, as well as downloads of mini-guides and
WWW.CANOEKAYAK.CO.UK
route cards in this series, visit:
WWW.PESDAPRESS.COM
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#07 KINGLAS
PESDA WHITEWATER MINI-GUIDE
OS SHEET GRADE
0
1km
OS map data reproduced with the kind permission of the Ordnance Survey
6km
LENGTH
56 4+(5)
Design & text adapted from the SCA guide to Scottish White Water, published by Pesda Press, Caernarfon.