A small L-shaped water body in the Bathgate Hills, Bangour Reservoir is situated within mixed woodland 2 miles (3 km) west northwest of Dechmont. The reservoir was constructed in 1902 to supply fresh water to Bangour General Hospital. It lies at 213m (700 feet) above sea level, extends to 4.9 ha (12 acres) and was designed to hold 72.7 million litres (16 million gallons) of water, retained by an earthen dam at its southern end.
When the hospital closed, the reservoir was taken over by a fishing syndicate but then fell into disuse and vandals destroyed the old boathouse. The facility was revitalised and opened as a commercial trout fishery and then sold in 2005. Thereafter, a new fishing lodge and car park were built, along with further fishing platforms, allowing up to 28 fishermen on the loch at one time, for fly fishing only.
The Fishery is stocked weekly with rainbow, brown, blue, tiger and golden trout, while wild brown trout breed here and must be released alive if caught. A number of carp were introduced in 1964 and have grown large in the intervening time.
Bangour Reservoir was voted the Best Small Stillwater in the UK by Total Flyfisher magazine in 2011 and 2012.
