The Lugar Water, or River Lugar, is created by the confluence of the Bellow Water and the Glenmuir Water, just north of Lugar, both of which flow from the hills of the Southern Uplands in East Ayrshire, Scotland.
Course
Source to Cumnock
The river flows through the small mining village of Lugar, where at Bellow Mill, William Murdoch, the inventor of gas lighting was born in 1754. A cave where he carried out a lot of his experiments can still be seen on the riverbank. The river then flows on through the town of Cumnock, under the Woodroad Viaduct, where its water was used in earlier times to power grain mills and where it is joined by Glaisnock Water. designed by John Adam. who also designed and built Dumfries House. A few yards downstream the Lugar flows beneath an elegant Chinese footbridge built in 2017.
Continuing west the river reaches the village of Ochiltree, where it is joined by the Burnock Water and its waters are harnessed by a weir which drove the local grain mills in days gone by. Here Atlantic salmon have been seen jumping the fish ladder, which allows them to reach their spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the river. The river also holds a good stock of the native brown trout, and these are fished for by anglers of all ages.
Lower Reaches
thumb|Lugar Water near Wallace's Cave
The river now enters a gorge of red sandstone with high cliffs on either side. High on one of these cliffs stand the ruins of Ochiltree Castle and beneath this can be found Wallace's Cave, where William Wallace allegedly hid from his pursuers.