The loch was used for pleasure cruises in the 18th century and coal was once carried from the Kilbirnie side across the loch to Beith.
A passenger ferry also ran across the loch at one time, most likely from near the old Lochside Farm, which is reached by a lane from Stonyholm, across to the Bark Mills delta where the silt from the mains burn has encroached into the loch and a small jetty existed.