This magnificent feat of civil engineering cuts right across the central belt of Scotland, traversing city centres, suburbs and some surprisingly remote and beautiful countryside. It links the River Forth to the River Clyde, allowing boats to sail across Scotland from the North Sea to the Atlantic. Until very recently it was still blocked because of short sighted developments dating from the 1960s and 70s, but now, thanks to a substantial grant from the Lottery's Millennium Fund, it has been fully restored and coast to coast navigation is once again possible.

The most impressive thing about the Forth and Clyde Canal is the sheer scale of it. All the engineering works were built to take sea-going vessels, and this is particularly evident in the locks and aqueducts, which are enormous compared to those on the English narrow canals. Originally all the bridges were bascule bridges (lifting bridges) giving unlimited headroom, but most of these are now gone, replaced by fixed bridges giving a minimum of 10ft headroom.

Unlike the Union Canal, the Forth and Clyde has more than its fair share of locks: 39 altogether. They were all restored as part of the Millennium Link project to supplement the other improvements to the canal. Some of the original locks were relocated to give more headroom under roads, and in one case a new droplock, the only one in Europe, was constructed.

If you are interested in boating on the canal, have a look at my boating page for some general advice.

For more information on any section of the canal, click on it on the map below:

If you're viewing this on a text only browser, you can use the links below to view the sections of canal.

Bowling to Temple
Temple to Glasgow
Maryhill to Kirkintilloch
Kirkintilloch to Falkirk
Falkirk to the Forth

For a brief history of the canal, click here