A809

The old Carbeth Inn on the A809

The A809 runs north-north-west for 12 miles from Bearsden, in the outer suburbs of Glasgow, to the village of Drymen, a popular tourist destination lying between Loch Lomond and the Campsie Fells.

The route begins at Canniesburn Toll roundabout, a junction with the A81 and A739, half a mile south-east of Bearsden town centre. Heading along Drymen Road, we pass Bearsden railway station, before meeting the short A808 at the light-controlled Bearsden Cross and then, a little further on, the A810 at a triangular junction known as the Stockiemuir Diamond; the A810 is the forward direction here and our road TOTSOs to the right, to become Stockiemuir Road.

At Baljaffray roundabout we cross the B8050 and then skirt the Castlemaine Estate on the western fringe of Milngavie. The route so far has brought us through some of outer Glasgow's most affluent residential areas, but now we leave the suburbs at last and start a steady climb through the countryside of East Dunbartonshire. To the right lie golf courses, screened by trees, while to the left fields climb up the hillsides. Our ascent is briefly interrupted where the road dips down to cross the Craigton Burn and Allander Water, and after the latter we pass the (now closed) Carbeth Inn, once a popular bikers' haunt.

Just after the Inn, in Carbeth Village, the B821 leads off to the right, heading towards Strathblane and the A81 which has shadowed our own route just a mile or so to the east the whole way. Shortly afterwards we pass the Auchengillan Outdoor Centre and then the road emerges from the trees at Queen's View viewpoint at the road's summit. Here a small car park provides fine views away to the north and north west, across an invisible Loch Lomond to the Argyll Hills beyond. Continuing north, we start to descend, passing Stockiemuir, Craighat, and then a junction with the B834, which turns right to cross the A81 and head for Killearn.

At the entrance to the small village of Croftamie, the largest since Milngavie, we cross Catter Burn Bridge, which was closed in Autumn 2021 due to a partial collapse, and encounter our first speed limit since leaving Milngavie, the road bending to the right to pass through the village. NCN7 crosses the road in the middle of the village, following an old railway line which used to cross at a level crossing. Half a mile further on and the A809 reaches its terminus, running into the A811 at a TOTSO junction just south of Drymen Bridge.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Canniesburn - Bearsden - Drymen