Endrick Water

Also within

Dunbartonshire CountyStirling and Falkirk County LochLomond National Park National Park Loch Lomond Scenic Area

Condition (NatureScot)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: Floodplain

Landscape processes: Fluvial, Glacial

Birds & fish recorded

Fish

Description

Endrick Water The Endrick Water Special Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) originates 4 km east of Fintry in the Gargunnock Hills. From here the SSSI extends west for 36 km to meet the Endrick Mouth and Islands SSSI around 1.5 km east of Loch Lomond. The lower reaches of the Endrick Water provide an exceptional example of the fluvial geomorphology of Scotland. The river is the largest flowing into Loch Lomond and it is both nationally and internationally-important for its population of river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis and brook lamprey L. planeri. The site is also supports the nationally-rare Scottish dock Rumex aquaticus. In its lower reaches, near Buchanan Castle, the river is of considerable geomorphological interest. Here the river provides an excellent example of an unmodified and highly sinuous lowland river with irregular to tortuous meanders. At present, the channel is actively migrating across the valley floor, generating a floodplain in which are preserved excellent examples of palaeo-features such as meander scrolls, oxbow lakes and sections of abandoned channel. A recent cutoff provides an insight into how such channel adjustments develop and illustrates the processes of fine overbank sedimentation into a former channel. The Endrick Water SSSI includes an important reference section in Late Devensian sediments. The sequence includes Late Devensian ice sheet till, proglacial lake sediments, Clyde Beds (fossiliferous marine sediments) and proglacial lake sediments partly deformed by the Loch Lomond Readvance glacier that occupied the Loch Lomond basin. It provides clear stratigraphic evidence for renewed glaciation in the type area for the Readvance, supported by radiocarbon dating of marine shells incorporated in the deposits. The river is of national and international nature conservation importance for the populations of river lamprey and brook lamprey. The population of river lamprey found on the Endrick is of particular interest because these lampreys do not migrate to sea like other populations. Instead, they remain in freshwater as adults feeding in Loch Lomond on freshwater fish species. This is the only instance of this unusual behavioural trait being recorded in the UK. The botanical interest of the site is varied due to the complex mix of geology and associated landforms. The Scottish dock Rumex aquaticus is a nationally-rare species found in Britain only in seasonally flooded ground by Loch Lomond. Small areas of base-rich grassland occur on the banks in the middle reaches of the river. These contain locally-rare plants including burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga and giant bellflower Campanula latifolia in woodland margins. Moschatel Adoxa moschatellina, narrow buckler fern Dryopteris carthusiana, and the three-nerved sandwort Moehringia trinervia occur in the woodlands. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) River lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) Brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri)

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Plant communities