Advertisement
Reviews of Milarrochy Bay Camping And Caravanning Club Site
|
|
|
|
Milarrochy Bay Camping And Caravanning Club Site
Balmaha
Nr Drymen
Glasgow
Dunbartonshire (Browse area)
G63 0AL
Tel: 01360 870236
Visit their website Check Digital TV coverage See Weather Forecast
   
|
Pitches: 150
Open: 01/04/2024 to 02/11/2024
01/04/2025 to 02/11/2025
Rating: 
|
 Tent Pitches |
 Caravan Pitches |
 Motorhome Pitches |
 Small Campervans |
 Glamping Units |
 No Statics for Hire |
 No Statics for Sale |
 Seasonal Pitches |
 Electric Hookups |
 Hardstanding Pitches |
 No Fully Serviced Pitches |
 Show Full Facilities |
| Who's it for |
 Families Welcome |
 Not Members Only |
 No Rallies |
 Not Naturist Site |
 Dogs Welcome |
 No Dogs Allowed |
 Groups Welcome |
|
| Facilities |
 Toilet Facilities |
 Hot Showers |
 Washing Up |
 No Bathroom |
 Baby Changing Facilities |
 Laundry On Site |
 Drinking Water |
 Disabled Friendly |
 Chemical Disposal |
 No Battery Charging |
 Gas Exchange |
 No Recycling Facilities |
 No Kitchen Facilities |
 No Freezer / Fridge |
 No Motorhome Point |
 Wifi Access |
 No Shop |
 No Bar |
 No Restaurant |
| Activities |
 Kids Playground |
 No TV Room |
 No Games Room |
 No Evening Ents |
 No Fishing |
 No Wild Swimming |
 No Indoor Pool |
 No Outdoor Pool |
 No Horse Riding |
 No Cycle Hire |
 No Golf |
 No Tennis |
 No Beach |
 No Watersports |
 Boat Launch / Mooring On Site |
| Other Features |
 No Sea Views |
 Not Working Farm |
 No Campfires Allowed |
|
 No Waterside Pitches |
 Public Transport <1 mile |
 Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access |
|
Reviews:
89 in total, now showing 41 to 50
Previous 10
Next 10
|
|
Jump to Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
|
Write your own Review to win an Outdoor Revolution Screenhouse 4 and £150!
If you've ever visited this campsite please submit a review for your chance to win! Each month one lucky person will have their review picked at random and will win an Outdoor Revolution Screenhouse 4 worth £299 AND £150 of Amazon vouchers. Leave as many reviews as you can for more chances - it only takes a few minutes
|
| Date of Visit: July 2012 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
Rating: 
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
 | Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Gumpandwoo |
20 reviews from this member |
|
 Lovely site with exceptionally helpful wardens. We visited on the off chance they may be able to accomodate us after arriving at the site we had booked and it not meeting our expectations. They gladly fitted us in and made all the phone calls etc to transfer our booking from elsewhere.
Nice pitches with a good view of the loch, and a good size for a caravan, awning and car. Facilities were very clean and the showers were nice and powerful.
Balmaha is a cute little village with a lovely pub called the Oak which does lovely food and has a lovely charm/atmosphere about it.
There is also a small local shop where you can get most essentials along with gifts etc.
You have to visit the House of Darrach in Gartocharn, its a tea room to rival Bettys!.
Luss is a well worth a visit and you can take a loch boat trip whilst there.
The boathouse at Cameron House is a lovely loch side restaurant for a nice relaxed meal.
Would definitely return. 
|
|
| Date of Visit: July 2012 |
Unit: Trailer Tent |
Rating: 
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Elinorabdn |
3 reviews from this member |
|
The weather was very wet and we were put on a slight hill even though I booked a hard standing pitch so it took five of us to push the folding camper up as the car wouldn't reverse it up. The pitch was very wet even after it stopped raining and the road was covered in potholes so there was now where to walk our dog without getting our feet wet. The site was noisy late on with campers walking from the car park to their tents. A group of Dutch campers got permission to pitch their tent at midnight even though they left all their equipment on their pitch early afternoon. They kept us awake till after one in the morning walking back and fore from the car park. The toilets and showers were clean the shop was friendly but a bit sparse. We have been on this site with a tent years ago and it was just as wet so it hadn't improved. I think this was the worse site I have ever been in and we would not go back even if it was free.
|
|
| Date of Visit: June 2012 |
Unit: Tent |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| Child friendliness:
 | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Celtic1 |
13 reviews from this member |
|
This is a very well maintained, clean site.
It has it's own beach, which appears accessible only from the camp-site.
The site is on the West Highland way, so there was plenty of walking to be had, in either direction, directly from the site. Which was fantastic.
The pitches all appear flat, but I am not convinced that the pitch sizes are particularly generous. We have a Wolf lake 7 and we had to book a 'jumbo' pitch. We had to put the tent sideways, as the pitch was wider, than it was long. However, where, we were, was good, as we never felt blocked in or cramped. Whereas some of the other tents did appear a bit more squashed.
The site was full over the Jubilee weekend, but the facilities, remained clean and there was no waiting for either showers or washing up sinks. My only criticism is that the water in the women's showers never got above tepid. This, the wardens told me, was an on going problem.
Even though the site was full, it remained extremely quiet.
The children's play area is a token one, but it doesn't matter, as the surrounding areas, are full of adventure for children with an imagination.
All in all, this is a lovely site, which I would not hesitate to recommend and I for one, would certainly use it again.
|
|
| Date of Visit: June 2012 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| Child friendliness:
| Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Bryoak1958 |
35 reviews from this member |
|
Stayed at this site for two nights on our way to highlands and what a very nice site it is, fairly quiet and out in the countryside
We were put right on the bank of loch lomand and was very nice for a swim, ,
The site itself is very tidy. Plenty of hot water (a bit too hot for my liking) in the very tidy showers, ,
Staff very thorough like all camping and caravan club sites, ,
There is a really lovely walk along the lochside to the marina, 45 mins and the oaktree inn, no little doggies allowed in here
The mozzys might have a little feast on you, as with all northern British places next to water, you can get a lot of midges, so take your repellent and a head net. Nice little site
|
|
| Date of Visit: July 2012 |
Unit: Tent |
Rating: 
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| Child friendliness:
| Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Gazzab007 |
2 reviews from this member |
|
Me and the wife were sited here for two nights camping and kayaking. And when we first got to the site we were met by the most rudest woman I've ever seen.
Secondly: the camp site is situated on the most amazing point of the loch, however it's over shadowed by the shear amount of old boats and old caravans that are stored there, it actually makes the campsite look like a gypsy site.
Thirdly: some of the members of staff were very helpful whilst the majority obviously hate there work and are there to punish camp goers. They were quick to shove their rules down your neck, but not at all able to enforce it. A group of foreign tourists who were Russian decided to get drunk and be as loud as possible as well as let off fireworks at 02:00hrs in the morning , and yet the members of staff who live on site refused to do anything about it!.
So in my opinion my two nights and days were completely ruined by this horrible gypsies looking campsite.
Avoid if possible as there is a better campsite further up the road which is far far better
|
|
Advertisement
|
| Date of Visit: May 2012 |
Unit: Tent |
Rating: 
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: AJSidmouth |
2 reviews from this member |
|
A group of 10 of us recently booked this site for 4 days at the end of May.
We chose it primarily for its location as most of the group were walking the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William and this seemed like a good base for the first few days (we had a 17 seat minibus for transporting walkers to and from each day’s walks).
We arrived around 6. 30pm on a Friday evening after a very long and hot drive of over 450 miles from our homes in Devon.
I can't say we were given much of a welcome - the office staff were primarily concerned with taking our money and made no effort to tell us anything whatsoever about the site or its facilities. It was very busy with lots of people checking in for the weekend but I have to say they did not cope very well with the rush.
I also learned a valuable lesson at this point – if you book via the Camping and Caravanning Club central booking service you have to notify them 7 days in advance if you want to change anything. We originally booked for 12 people and 3 large pitches but ended up with 10 people due to family bereavement and needed 1 large and 2 smaller pitches. My previous experience at other sites was that these things could be sorted out on arrival but that was not the case here so we ended up paying quite a bit more. Lesson learned.
Once we had paid up we were ushered to our pitches quite efficiently and left to get on with it.
The site itself is very pleasantly situated directly on the banks of Loch Lomond and the majority of pitches for both tents and caravans were very good - - level, lots of room to spread out – and there were excellent views if you were lucky enough to be by the loch side.
However, the facilities weren’t really that great.
• Taps were plentiful but where were all the rubbish bins? Seems like these were kept to a minimum for the convenience of the staff rather than their customers.
• The main shower/toilet block was OK but nothing special. A bit cramped and I should imagine it would get very busy if the site were full. The shower arrangements with just one small hook and a tiny stool to keep your stuff dry was not very good – particularly as the floors seemed permanently wet.
• There was also another shower block aimed at backpackers and the showers here didn’t even have the luxury of a stool! In addition there was little to stop the showers draining in to the changing area so these were permanently awash with half an inch of water. It was quite a balancing act if you did not want to come out with your clothes sopping wet.
• The camp shop was very limited – iron rations and a pint of milk but not much else. Luckily there was a good village store just down the road in Balmaha (and a nice pub) and a fair sized Spar in Drymen a couple of miles further on.
• Not sure if they had any midge machines – if they did they weren’t working very well as we were plagued by the wee beasties morning and night.
• The gates! Not sure why both exit and entry gates had to remain closed at all times but after a few days it became a real pain to have to open and close these every time for no apparent reason (oh, and the site staff rarely obliged by doing this for you)
The surrounding area was fantastic and the walkers thoroughly enjoyed 3 days of trekking – from the start at Milngavie (about 45 minutes) to Rowardennan just a couple of miles up the (narrow) road. Unfortunately our plans went a bit astray after this when we finally realised that the next stage to just outside Crianlarich was a 20 mile walk but a 60+ mile journey by road - WHW walkers please note! Because of this we decided to move on a day early (no refund – see above).
Our welcome had been decidedly lukewarm but our departure was even worse. I informed one of the site staff that we were on our way a day early and his sole comment was “oh, right” then he carried on about his business and walked away.
No “was anything wrong?”, “was everything OK for you?”, “lovely to have you - please come again” – nothing, not a word. I left in a hurry muttering under my breath ….
To sum up, a really nice location with adequate facilities but they really need to work on their customer care.
|
|
| Date of Visit: April 2012 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| Child friendliness:
| Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Tim and Cary |
61 reviews from this member |
|
At the beginning of April we stayed for 11 nights at the Milarrochy Bay Camping and Caravanning Club site which is situated on the eastern shores of Loch Lomond. We had last visited this site on our first family holiday with our, then, new frame tent when we started family camping in 1992.
It is a site I would recommend highly. The site is located on the narrow, minor road along the eastern shores of Loch Lomond which ends at Rowardennan. This road is reached by leaving the A811 at the village of Drymen and taking the B837 to Balmaha.
At Balmaha the road narrows considerably. Immediately on leaving the northern end of the village there is sharp right-hand bend followed by steep hill, the Pass of Balmaha. Care needs to be taken in negotiating this hill, particularly when towing.
Milarrochy Bay itself is reached after about 1. 5 miles and there is a large car park and small National Park Information Centre and a public slipway for boat launching. Milarrochy Bay Campsite is about 0. 5 miles past this Centre and clearly signposted on the left.
The site has a separate entrance and exit. The entrance is on a steep downhill slope with the campsite barrier at the bottom. On our arrival one of the wardens came out and opened the barrier so that we could drive in and park safely before registering at reception. The barrier is always closed during the daytime and locked at night.
The exit is on the far side of reception via a large gate. There is an overnight/visitors’ car park next to this gate. The exit is poor designed. The view of the road, which is single track at this point, is obstructed by overhanging trees.
In addition there is not sufficient length between the gate and the road for a caravan outfit to stop after the gate has been closed. On our departure I had to drive out onto the road to allow Cary to close the gate and then she had to run 100 yards up the road to join me waiting in a passing place!
The site is quite a large and the pitches are very well spaced out. To the right of the entrance, from the road, there is a large pitching area with a mixture of grass and hardstanding pitches with EHU.
The pitches nearest to the Loch are mainly hardstanding and on flat ground and the site then slopes upwards away from the Loch. There is smaller “backpackers” toilet block in this area with a washing-up area and dining room.
The site is popular with walkers as the West Highland Way passes the entrance. Next to reception there is a small information room and the main toilet and shower block. To the left of the entrance is a storage area for caravans. Beyond this there is a storage area for boats and nearer to the lochside a further large area of pitches without EHU.
The site has a long lochside frontage with a small rocky beach. There are 2 concrete slipways for boat launching for which a fee is payable. Many folk using the site have canoes and other water craft which they launch from the site's slipway. We had originally planned to take our Zodiac inflatable boat but decided not to due to the poor weather forecast.
The road along the Eastern side of Loch Lomond is a dead-end and so the site was wonderfully peaceful. A downside of the site in my opinion is that the trees around the site screen it from best mountain views.
The water’s edge hardstanding pitches were already booked when we made our booking, they're the popular pitches, but we were fortunate to get a semi-hardstanding pitch near the water's edge on an unmarked pitching area.
The wardens were always very helpful and allowed us to move our 'van when the overhanging trees prevented us getting a signal on our TV satellite system. The weather was mixed with some wet and some sunny days. We managed to avoid the snow which fell on Glasgow during our stay although the snow did cap some of the mountains to improve my photos!
The village of Balmaha is just less than 2 miles away by road. It a small Lochside hamlet with a couple of pubs, a small village store, a few houses and not much else. We found village shop to be both expensive and not very well stocked.
Their new National Park Information Centre opened for the first time during our stay. The Centre is very pleasant with informative interactive displays including some for children.
The Centre is situated in the large public car park and includes public toilets. The staff were pleasant, well-informed and helpful.
The village has a marina and small boatyard from where boats can be hired. There is, also, a ferry to the nearby island of Inchailloch.
The Millennium Forest Trail from the centre of the village leads past the ferry pier and by a partly paved path to the high viewpoint of Craigie Fort before returning along the shores of the Loch. Craigie Fort gives spectacular views along the Loch to the mountains at its northern end.
The larger village of Drymen is situated just under 6 miles from the Campsite. It has a number of shops including a butcher, village store and “Spar” minimarket. We did not ever stop at Drymen as we preferred to shop at the larger Co-op in Balloch, but had to drive through every time we went out from the Campsite.
The nearest town of any size is Balloch is about 13. 5 miles away. Balloch is, a not a particularly attractive, small town situated on the River Leven at the southern end Loch Lomond. It has a good tourist information office.
There are a selection of small shops and a well-stocked large Co-op supermarket. In addition there is the Lomond Shores shopping 'experience' on the shores of Loch Lomond but it is a rather ugly building in my opinion with rather overpriced shops.
Adjacent to the Lomond Shores complex is a 'SeaWorld Centre' but we didn't visit it. 'Sweeney's Cruises' on Loch Lomond operate from the riverside in the centre of Balloch.
Balloch Country Park at the eastern end of Balloch stretches along the shores of Loch Lomond and that is worth a visit, particularly on a sunny day. Balloch, also, has a rail station which connects it with Glasgow. Balloch, also, has several pubs and restaurants and a McDonald's.
The road from Balmaha continues for a further 5 miles before ending at Rowardennan and we did take an exploratory drive. On the way we drove past a Forestry Centre but we did not visit this. The road to Rowardennan is a narrow and quiet with just a few farms and the Cashel Camp site enroute.
There is not much at Rowardennan, just a hotel, a National Park Centre with a Car Park and a Youth Hostel. However the lovely views over the Loch to the mountains are superb. Rowardennan is, also, the starting point for those who wish to climb Ben Lomond. Ben Lomond is Scotland’s most southerly Munro, ie, Scottish mountains over 3, 000 feet.
We had a wonderful time staying at Milarrochy Bay. One of our favourite walks was along a section of the West Highland Way along the shores of the Loch to the small village of Balmaha and then back again.
Apart from a few hundred yards on the road the path followed the shores of the Loch and we were able to spend time sitting on the beach in the sunshine enroute. Just before reaching Balmaha we joined the Millennium Forest Trail to the viewpoint at Craigie Fort which gave spectacular views over the Loch to the mountain beyond.
At Balmaha we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch at the “Oak Tree Inn” in the centre of village. The restaurant was very busy and so we opted to sit outside in the adjacent beer garden. We enjoyed a very pleasant meal of beautifully tasty home-made beef burgers and chips although for a bar meal it was quite expensive at c£10 each.
The beer garden would have been more pleasant if there had not been builders working on an extension to the Inn very close by.
We took cruises on the Loch with “Sweeney’s Cruises” and “Cruise Loch Lomond”- we found “Cruise Loch Lomond” much better value and the crew more friendly. We took their “Rob Roy Cruise” from Tarbet along the northern shores of the Loch one afternoon.
The cruise still ran even though we were the only passengers. We were still given a Camping and Caravanning Club discount of £1.50 on each of our fares and the young lady crew member even served us our complimentary liqueur coffee on the upper viewing deck. “Sweeney’s Cruises” on the other hand cancelled several of the cruises we had hoped to take with them from Balloch leaving us the option of their one hour cruise from Balloch. This cruise was not, in my opinion, really worth it as it did not really go far up the Loch at all.
We, also, spent a day driving along the single track road to Inversnaid further north on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond. I don’t think that this rather challenging road was worth the effort, particularly the final precipitous hairpin bend stage down to the Inversnaid Hotel.
The hotel has its own landing stage and is more easily reached by the regular ferry from Tarbert on the other side of the Loch.
On the way back from Inversnaid we visited the western end of the beautiful Loch Katrine much beloved by Sir Walter Scott. We had thought about a trip on the restored steamer “The Lady of the Lake” but the weather that day was not really suitable.
We, also, visited the village of Luss. Luss is a rather busy and touristy village as it is just off the A82. Loch cruises and ferries depart from Luss and in addition there are some pleasant walking routes in the area.
On another evening we drove along the northern banks of the River Clyde through Dumbarton and Helensburgh before driving around the Rosneath Peninsula along the shores of Gare Loch to Kilcreggan before returning back to the campsite via the shores of Loch Long, Arrochar and then back down the western shores of Loch Lomond.
For our final outing we took a day long tour to and around the Isle of Bute. This involved driving north along the A82 and then on the A83 over the “Rest and Be Thankful Pass”. We then turned south onto the A886 along the shore of Loch Fyne and then along Loch Riddon to Colintraive.
From Colintraive we took the 5 minute Cal Mac Ferry crossing to Rhubodach on the northern end of the Isle of Bute. We spent the day touring the beautiful Isle of Bute before catching Cal Mac ferry from Rothesay to Wemyss Bay in the early evening. We then had a lovely drive back along A770 the southern banks of the Clyde through Greenock and Port Glasgow to the campsite.
The only disadvantage in my opinion is that it is necessary to drive about 6 miles on minor roads to reach main A811 road when travelling to anywhere else. From a peacefulness point of view that is, of course, an advantage!
A final tip - if you are travelling to this area in the near future via the Erskine Bridge and up the A82 to Balloch I would recommend you check the traffic bulletins. We were held up in lengthy delays at roadworks between the Erskine Bridge and Balloch on both our outward and return journeys. The roadworks may have finished now, of course.
|
|
| Date of Visit: August 2010 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Aileenr |
1 review from this member |
|
I have visited this site 6 times in the last 2 years, every visit has been brilliant and most enjoyable,
Toilets always very clean & many of them, staff very friendly & helpful- last year was my 1st year with a caravan so was lost many times with the setting up etc..
But the 4 wardens last year were so helpful & understanding, site kept in good order.
Beautiful scenery, great walks in the area, boat trips available at a reasonable cost on the loch.
Really like the shops at Lomond Shores in Balloch about 20 mins car drive away, lots to do in that surrounding area for the kids, good food to be had in Balamaha village at a reasonable price.
Would recommend it to all.
|
|
| Date of Visit: July 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
 |
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: NettieG |
5 reviews from this member |
|
This is the second time I've visited this site and it was up to its usual standard. Absolutely spotlessly clean.
I did find the staff this time around a little too cheeky as was mocked for a simple request on arrival - not a good start. If it had been my first time visiting I would have been put right off. Another question was met by a sarcastic comment from a different member of staff. Again, off putting if it's your first time there. Completely unnecessary.
However, all the staff work like trojans and never stop keeping the site clean. I was told I could use the backpackers' toilet block if I wanted to but was warned it would get very, very dirty. The site was busy even though it was midweek but the block was only a little dirty, which to Milarrochy standards probably is very dirty as it's so well kept.
A great site I would highly recommend especially to those who have never camped before and are nervous about facilities.
I will definitely be back.
|
|
| Date of Visit: July 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
Rating:
| Rating Breakdown: |
Location:
| Facilities:
| Customer Service:
|
Value for money:
| | Overall:
|
|
| Reviewer: Anna21 |
2 reviews from this member |
|
Arrived on a very wet Thursday night and received a loch side pitch. This site is stunning as you are directly by the loch. It is you, your tent and the loch. No cars or people walk in between you and the loch. The Loch was about 3 meters away!
Toilets were very clean and in the ladies, 8 toilets, 8 wash basins and 6 to 8 showers. All wash basins were in a cubical ideal for a private wash or change of clothes.
On our last night which was a Friday night, the site was very busy due to a Scottish Bank Holiday. A few campers were talking very loudly however they did abide by the rules of no noise after 11 o’clock. However don't let this spoil a stunning site.
I would head to this site in the week for loch side pitches and a quiet stay in a stunning location.
|
|
Previous
89 Reviews in total, now showing 41 to 50
Next
|
Write a Review of this Site to Win an Outdoor Revolution Prize and £150
 |
Common Questions
Is Milarrochy Bay Camping And Caravanning Club Site child friendly? YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities
Is Milarrochy Bay Camping And Caravanning Club Site dog friendly? YES View all facilities
Other Sites Near Glasgow Other sites within 10 miles - All Sites in Dunbartonshire
Latest News, Discounts and Competitions see all...
| Follow us on Facebook! |
 |
You can now follow UKCampsite.co.uk on Facebook! Keep abreast of the latest news and updates much more easily.
Simply click here then click on the Like button! |
|
All reviews and comments are the personal opinion of the review author only , and as such do not represent the view of the UK Camp Site.co.uk.
The facilities shown on this website are a guide only, and you should check with the campsite direct before making any booking. The UKCampsite.co.uk will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions
|
8537 Visitors online !
Free UKCampsite.co.uk Window Sticker - Recommend to Friend - Add a Missing Campsite
[Message Forums]
[Caravan Sites & Camping]
[Company Listings]
[Features / Advice]
[Virtual Brochure]
[Shop!]
[Reception]
[Competitions]
[Caravans & Motorhomes For Sale]
[Event Diary]
[Contact Us]
[Tent Reviews]
Please note we are not responsible for the content of external sites & any reviews represent the author's personal view only. Please report any error here. You may view our privacy and cookie policy and terms and conditions here. All copyrights & other intellectual property rights in the design and content of this web site are reserved to the UKCampsite.co.uk © 1999 - 2024 |
Advertisement
|
|
|
