Greenspaces

Cumbernauld is an incredibly green place and most people live within ten minutes of the town’s reserves and parks. There is so much to explore, so why not start today?

 

Cumbernauld Glen Wildlife Reserve

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the ancient woodland of Cumbernauld Glen is a haven for wildlife. Early spring sees pockets of snowdrops appearing and summer brings a profusion of bluebells. The meadow attracts butterflies, including small pearl-bordered fritillary. This historical site also has a 16th Century dovecote (doocot). There is an extensive network of footpaths to explore as well…

Luggiebank Wood Wildlife Reserve

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Luggiebank Wood has grassland, scrub and riverside woodland habitats. Alder and birch trees have allowed a rich and diverse ground flora to develop where wildflowers flourish. Kingfishers can be seen diving into the meandering Luggie Water and if you’re lucky you may even spot a badger foraging in the woodland.    Highlights Look out for dippers and otters while enjoying a peaceful riverside walk  Explore the apple…

Forest Wood Wildlife Reserve

, by Cumbernauld LL
Forest Wood is on the southern edge of Cumbernauld. It consists mainly of plantation woodland, with small areas of lowland peat bog, heath and grassland. It is a haven for flowering plants, and the pond is home to damselflies and palmate newts. If you listen carefully you might hear the call of cuckoos in spring – an increasingly rare sound…

Seafar Wood Wildlife Reserve

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Seafar Wood is a relatively young strip of woodland west of Cumbernauld Village. The woodland habitat is still developing and clusters of bluebells and other woodland flowers are already established, it’s also popular with butterflies and damselflies in summer. Areas of scrub and remnants of agricultural hedgerows provide vital habitats for birds.   Highlights…

The Langriggs

, by Laura Healy Smith
The Langriggs of Cumbernauld Village date back to medieval times. Once typical of early Scottish villages each property on Main Street had their own long narrow plots of land or ‘riggs.’ These Langriggs stretching out behind the homes were used by the villagers to carry out their particular trade. Some grew food or kept livestock, whilst others contained small outbuildings…

Mosswater Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

, by Laura Healy Smith
Mosswater Local Nature Reserve is owned by North Lanarkshire Council and the best way to access the reserve is by foot from Hope Park Drive, north of Blackwood round-about. After several years of work to improve this site for wildlife and people, Mosswater has been designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR). The young woodland and floodplain grassland to the north…

St Maurice’s Pond

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by North Lanarkshire Council, this wetland pond with its surrounding meadows and woodland is a great place for wildlife watching. Today the pond and woodlands are a ‘Special Site of Interest for Nature Conservation’ but were once an old farm and quarry that supplied materials to the nearby weaver’s village of Condorrat. There is a circular walk round the…

Palacerigg Country Park

, by Laura Healy Smith
Set in the hills to the south-east of Cumbernauld, Palacerigg Country Park is owned by North Lanarkshire Council. Established in the early 1970s, Palacerigg has been developed around the objectives of conservation, environmental education and countryside recreation. More than 40 hectares of what was once a bleak upland farm have been planted with hundreds of thousands of native trees and shrubs.…

Broadwood Loch

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by North Lanarkshire Council, Broadwood Loch is a man-made loch with surrounding woodland, grassland and lowland peat bog habitats. The wildlife ponds are home to damselflies and dragonflies and swallows can be seen swooping overhead in summer. There is a circular walk round the loch. Highlights Listen for the drumming sound of great spotted woodpeckers as you stroll through…

Cumbernauld Community Park

, by Cumbernauld LL
Managed by North Lanarkshire Council, this site has plenty of open greenspace as well as areas of wildflower meadow, spruce plantation and hedgerows. The park is full of history, and there’s plenty of wildlife to see from roe deer and badgers to butterflies and bees. There is a children’s playpark and a path leading to Andy Scott’s Arria sculpture. This…
 

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