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Chatelherault Country Park, Chatelherault, Hamilton

This week, we'll be featuring aspects of Chatelherault Country Park, a part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve located within Ferniegair, Hamilton in South Lanarkshire. The reserve is made up of six separate sites across South Lanarkshire:
  • Cartland Craigs, Lanark
  • Chatelherault, Hamilton
  • Cleghorn Glen, Lanark
  • Falls of Clyde, New Lanark
  • Mauldslie Woods, Carluke
  • Nethan Gorge, Crossford
There are some great views of Avon Water throughout Chatelherault.
Chatelherault features gorges and valleys carved out by the Avon Water on its way towards joining the River Clyde. There's also a number of features built by humans worth seeing, including a ruined castle and an 18th-century hunting lodge. Most importantly, it's an excellent place to see many of Scotland's native tree species, and if you're lucky maybe even some of our native animals such as badgers, foxes, woodland birds and roe deer.

Part of the walkway which forms the Green Bridge trail, lined on both sides by native species of tree.
There are a number of beautiful, scenic trails for visitors to explore. These range from 0.8 km strolls to 8 km walks taking in much of the park. Here are just some of the walks which are signposted throughout the park:
  • Green Bridge Trail - the longest, at 8 km, this takes you from the old hunting lodge (now a visitor's center), past Cadzow Castle and Cadzow Oaks, through Divoty Glen, over Green Bridge and back to the visitor's center. It isn't suitable for everyone, as it features a number of inclines and steps, but it does offer some breathtaking views and is certainly worth the time it takes to walk around.
  • White Bridge Trail - taking in much of the Green Bridge Trail, but a little shorter at 5.2 km, this trail offers you many great views too but won't take as long to complete. Unfortunately, White Bridge is currently closed due to a landslip, and graffiti on one of the signs indicates this has been the case since 2010. However, South Lanarkshire Council has recently felled a large number of non-native trees within the park and are planning on using the proceeds from the timber sales to reinstate White Bridge, along with making several other improvements to the park.
Even the deadwood found throughout the park provides an important habitat for invertebrates, which many of the resident bird species feed on.
  • Cadzow Oaks Trail - taking in Duke's Bridge, Cadzow Castle, Cadzow Oaks and Earthworks, and amazing views of Avon Water, this short 800 m trail offers a taste of what Chatelherault has on offer but can be completed in as little as 20-30 minutes.
  • Dukes Monument Trail - also passing Duke's Bridge and Cadzow Castle, this trail extends in the opposite direction to the previous three, taking visitors on a scenic route through mixed woodland towards Duke's Monument.
Cadzow Oaks and Earthworks, on of the many points of interest to keep an eye out for.
There's plenty to see and do in Chatelherault and over the next week we'll have an article about a different aspect of the site each day:
We post articles every day, Monday through Friday. Subscribe for instant updates when a new article is released. Next week, we'll be running a series of articles on Lanark, a small market town not far from Hamilton, and the week after will have a focus on Scottish castles.

Image Attribution

All images in this article Copyright © 2017, Adam Black. All rights reserved.
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Location: Chatelherault Country Park, Carlisle Road, Ferniegair, Hamilton ML3 7UE, UK

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