Stirlingshire

Stirlingshire is a traditional county in the central belt of Scotland, which forms a loose triangle between the River Forth, Loch Lomond and the northern fringe of the Glasgow urban area. The majority of the county is now administered by Stirling Council, with Falkirk Council covering the more urban and industrial areas around Falkirk and Grangemouth. The south of the county has ceded some areas to both East Dunbartonshire Council and North Lanarkshire Council, whilst the modern Stirling Council area has gained a large swathe of western Perthshire in return.

Geography & Economy

Looking north along the A875 across the Forth Valley

The city of Stirling has long played an important role in Scotland's history, much of it centred on Stirling Castle. However, there is a lot more to the county which stretches a long way west along the southern bank of the River Forth with fertile farmland to the shores of Loch Lomond and the much-climbed Ben Lomond. The south of the county includes the Campsie Fells, a high ridge which stands guard and limits the growth of the villages to the north of Glasgow.

Heading east from Stirling is almost the opposite extreme from the rural idyll to the west, with the vast oil refinery site at Grangemouth, and the industrial zones around Falkirk, by far the largest town in the county. The area around and south of Falkirk was a coal mining area in the past, but has since transformed into a busy modern town in the commuter belt for both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Stirling has retained more of its history and is a somewhat more upmarket destination with plenty of history for tourists, a University and a vibrant city centre.

Roads

The A904 at Grangemouth

The county has a ring of A roads circling the Campsie Fells (the A811 briefly enters Perthshire on this circuit), with a network of A and B roads to either side. The far north west of the county is unpopulated and road-less, save the settlements of Stronachlachar and Inversnaid which are only accessible by road through Perthshire. There is also a good motorway network around Stirling and Falkirk, taking traffic off the often over-burdened A roads.

The county has two well-known bridges across the Forth - the Kincardine Bridge and Clackmannanshire Bridge on its eastern boundary, and a range of other interesting structures elsewhere on lesser rivers. The non trunk roads in the county are maintained by one of the 4 modern councils which now cover the area, the majority falling under Stirling Council or Falkirk Council. The trunk roads, which include the A84, A876, a tiny fraction of the A985 and the motorways are managed by Transport Scotland.

Route	From	To	Length
M9	Edinburgh	Dunblane	32 miles	View
M80	Glasgow	Bannockburn, Stirlingshire	25 miles	View
M876	Denny	Kincardine Bridge	7.9 miles	View
A9	Polmont, Stirlingshire (M9)	Scrabster, Caithness	279 miles	View
A81	Glasgow	Callander	35 miles	View
A84	Stirling	Lochearnhead	29 miles	View
A88	Larbert	Stenhousemuir	3.5 miles	View
A91	Stirling	St Andrews	53 miles	View
A99	Pirnhall	Bannockburn	0.8 miles	View
A801	East Whitburn	Polmont	8.9 miles	View
A803	Glasgow	Champany	33.3 miles	View
A807	Milngavie	Torrance	5.0 miles	View
A809	Bearsden	Drymen	12.0 miles	View
A811	Stirling	Balloch	29.7 miles	View
A872	Dennyloanhead	St Ninians	7.8 miles	View
A875	Dumgoyne	Kepculloch Toll	6.4 miles	View
A876	Bowtrees	Kilbagie	4.0 miles	View
A879	Glasgow	Allander Toll	4.5 miles	View
A883	Camelon	Denny	3.3 miles	View
A891	Strathblane	Auchinreoch	7.8 miles	View
A904	Queensferry	Falkirk	17.6 miles	View
A905	Grangemouth	Stirling	15.5 miles	View
A907	Causewayhead	Halbeath	22.4 miles	View
A985	Kincardine Bridge	Rosyth	13.8 miles	View
A997	Causewayhead	Blairlogie	1.3 miles	View
A8004	Checkbar Roundabout	Bonnybridge	0.42 miles	View
B757	Auchinloch	Milton of Campsie	4.2 miles	View
B802	Kilsyth	Chapelhall	12.3 miles	View
B803	Falkirk	Coatbridge	16.3 miles	View
B805	Laurieston	Maddiston	4.0 miles	View
B810	Polmont	Shieldhill	2.7 miles	View
B812	Glasgow	Bardowie	4.2 miles	View
B816	Falkirk	Cumbernauld Village	8.0 miles	View
B817	Bonnybridge	Larbert	3.0 miles	View
B818	Denny	Killearn	18.8 miles	View
B821	Blanefield	Carbeth	2.1 miles	View
B822	Torrance	Callander (S)	26.5 miles	View
B823	Stirling	Bridge of Allan	2.0 miles	View
B825	Caldercruix	Linlithgow Bridge	12.8 miles	View
B829	Aberfoyle	Stronachlachar	11.2 miles	View
B834	Finnich Toll	Killearn	2.1 miles	View
B835	Buchlyvie	Gartachoil	2.8 miles	View
B837	Drymen	Balmaha	4.0 miles	View
B858	Drymen (S)	Drymen (E)	0.9 miles	View
B902	Falkirk	Antonshill	2.6 miles	View
B904	Polmont	Grangemouth Refinery	1.8 miles	View
B905	Bonnybridge	Stenhousemuir	3.3 miles	View
B906	Merchiston roundabout, Falkirk	Bainsford	0.69 miles	View
B906	Kersie Mains	Alloa	1.2 miles	View
B907	Causewayhead	Wallace Monument	0.2 miles	View
B907	Logie	Manor Powis	1.0 mile	View
B998	Causewayhead	Airthrey Castle	1.2 miles	View
B8022	Limerigg	Babbithill	4.5 miles	View
B8028	Falkirk	Couston	8.7 miles	View
B8034	Port of Menteith	Arnprior	5.0 miles	View
B8037	Kippen	Caulharne	1.6 miles	View
B8051	St Ninians	King's Knot	1.9 miles	View
B8052	Customs roundabout	Craigs roundabout	1.0 mile	View
B8075	near Blair Drummond	Gargunnock	2.2 miles	View
B8078	Station Road	Cowane Street	0.3 miles	View
B8080	Glenfuir Road	Kerse Lane	1.7 miles	View
B9036	East Carron	Airth	3.1 miles	View
B9111	Kerse Road	Murray Place	0.3 miles	View
B9124	Bannockburn	Airth	6.7 miles	View
B9132	Bo'ness Road	Beancross Road	1.1 miles	View
B9143	Bo'ness Road	Wholeflats Road	0.8 miles	View
T1	London	Scrabster		View
T28	Gretna	Stirling		View
T92	Dennyloanhead	St Andrews		View
T95	Stirling	Crianlarich		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Stirlingshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Stirlingshire