Glendevon: The Reservoirs, the Drove Road & the Quiet Heart of the Ochils

Glendevon: The Reservoirs, the Drove Road & the Quiet Heart of the Ochils

A reservoir valve tower reflected in still water at Glendevon, with a low winter sun.
Glendevon — a hidden Perthshire glen of still reservoirs and empty hills, just over the tops from Clackmannanshire.

Overview — the honest take

Glendevon is one of those places that’s hiding in plain sight. It’s a quiet Perthshire glen cutting through the middle of the Ochil Hills — and yet it’s barely ten minutes, as the crow flies, from our home patch in Clackmannanshire, just over the tops from Dollar. Most people only ever see it through the car window on the A823 between Yetts o’ Muckhart and Gleneagles. Stop, though, and you get a string of gorgeous reservoirs, some lovely hill and woodland walks, and a proper bit of peace and quiet. We came up on a crisp December day and had it almost to ourselves.

Where it is

Glendevon sits at the head of Glen Devon in southern Perth & Kinross, following the young River Devon down off the hills. The A823 runs the length of the glen, linking Yetts o’ Muckhart in the south to Auchterarder and Gleneagles in the north. The tiny village has a church, a country inn, and an old 18th-century humpback bridge over the river.

A cottage and garden in Glendevon village in winter.
A cottage in the tiny village at the head of the glen.

The reservoirs

A gnarled old tree at Glendevon with a person leaning against it and Lillie the dog below.
The great gnarled tree at the head of the glen — Lillie keeping watch below.
A wooden sign reading Glendevon Upper and Lower Reservoirs, with the hills behind.
The sign at the reservoir road-end — the upper and lower lochs just ahead.
The dam walkway across a Glendevon reservoir in the Ochil Hills.
A dam walkway leads out across the water — the reservoirs are wonderfully photogenic in low winter light.

The glen’s big draw is its reservoirs — the Upper and Lower Glendevon (the “Frandy”) lochs, along with Glenquey and, just to the south, Castlehill. There’s a genuinely surprising bit of history here: the two Glendevon reservoirs were built by German prisoners of war during the First World War, to supply water to Dunfermline and the naval base at Rosyth. On a still day they lie utterly mirror-flat, the old stone valve towers reflected perfectly — catnip for a camera.

A valve tower mirrored in the still water of a Glendevon reservoir.
A valve tower mirrored in glassy water.
Calm water and low hills at a Glendevon reservoir.
Utter stillness — the reservoirs sit in a fold of the Ochils.
A Glendevon reservoir framed by juniper and heather.
Juniper and heather frame the shore.
A Glendevon reservoir below the russet Ochil hillsides.
Russet winter hillsides above the water.
A picnic beside a Glendevon reservoir in the Ochils.
A picnic by the water — the reservoirs make a peaceful lunch stop.
The stone draw-off valve tower in a Glendevon reservoir.
The old stone valve tower standing out in the reservoir.

Walks — and the old road over to Dollar

There’s walking here to suit everyone. The easy one is the gentle circuit between Castlehill and Glenquey reservoirs. The classic, though, is the old drove road that climbs over the Ochils to Dollar — a grand 2–3 hour hill crossing that drops you down through Dollar Glen right past Castle Campbell. There’s also the Glen Devon Woodlands, a Woodland Trust site being replanted with native trees, with paths of its own.

A wide view over a Glendevon reservoir and the Ochil Hills.
The wider glen — big skies and empty hills, ten minutes over the tops from Dollar.
A Woodland Trust welcome board for the Glen Devon Woodlands.
The Woodland Trust’s Glen Devon Woodlands, being restored to native trees.

Keep an eye out, too, for the glen’s wonderful old trees — there’s one gnarled veteran on the open hill that stopped us in our tracks.

A gnarled old tree on the open hillside at Glendevon.
A wonderfully gnarled old tree standing alone on the hill.
A walker and dog beside a gnarled old tree at Glendevon for scale.
…and just how big it is, with a bit of human (and Lillie) for scale.

The village & a pint

At the heart of the glen, the Tormaukin Inn is an 18th-century coaching inn full of old-world charm — roaring fires in winter, a garden for sunnier days, and just the spot to round off a walk. The little church and the humpback bridge nearby are worth a look too.

A woodland path in Glen Devon, with Lillie the dog.
A woodland path down through the glen.
Lillie the dog beside a reservoir in Glen Devon.
Lillie, thoroughly at home by the water.

Nearby

  • Dollar — just over the hill, with Castle Campbell and the dramatic Dollar Glen (the far end of the drove-road walk).
  • Alloa & the wider Hillfoots — our home base under the south side of the Ochils.
  • The Pentland Hills — more easy-access hill country if you like this sort of thing.

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