4 days ago
Looking for a green getaway? Five great places in Central Scotland
Glasgow's Dear Green Place
If you know you know, but it's remarkable how many Glaswegians I've met who have never had a good bash around the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. This oasis spreads its surprisingly wild tentacles across 108 square miles. Nature reigns supreme today, but there is the detritus of mankind's industrial follies to check out too. The views are superb, both back towards the city and out across the Ayrshire coast to the isles of the Firth of Clyde and beyond. Castle Semple Loch is also on hand with accessible outdoor activities.
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Penicuik Estate
I have to admit that although I only live a half hour drive away I only recently 'discovered' this gorgeous country estate in the southern foothills of the Pentlands, just to the southwest of Edinburgh. That is partly because I sometimes find private estates closed off and unwelcoming. Not this one. The Clerk family have held sway here since the seventeenth century and today the welcomes visitors with 15km of walking trails. The North River Esk, a brace of ponds, thick forests and sweeping views make this a gorgeous green lung. You can take a peek inside into the dramatic ruin of Old Penicuik House. In 2024 they opened up half a dozen self-catering cottages too, with the old factor's house, Stable Park, the pick of the bunch, with its outdoor hot tub and fancy BBQ. Summer 2025 sees the grand old stables, Penicuik House, reborn as an events space and pop-up hotel.
Bucolic Beecraigs
Were they in most countries the Bathgate Hills would be celebrated, but in Scotland they will always sit in the shadows of the Highlands. That doesn't mean 913-acre Beecraigs Country Park is not a brilliant green lung. Walk around the eponymous loch, which was fashioned by German Prisoners of War during World War One, looking out for birdlife and badgers on the banks, then head uphill and stroll between the deer enclosures. You can buy ultra fresh venison to take home. There is also a massive children's play park, BBQs you can use and a campsite. The wee hill of Cockleroy lies on the edge of Beecraigs too, a cracking wee ramble with epic views down to Linlithgow and over the Forth Valley.
Bucolic Beecraigs (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Don't take the Queen's Ferry
Since time immemorial people have descended on South Queensferry to vault over the Forth by boat, in more recent centuries by road and rail. But it is worth lingering longer as this trim wee town is home to a trio of green lungs in the form of three country estates that you can wander around thanks to the Land Reform Act. Hopetoun is the best set up for visitors, though you have to pay to enter grand Hopetoun House and the immediate grounds surrounding it.
The Dalmeny Estate (Image: Robin McKelvie)
The rest of the estate offers superb walking and cycling along the coast, up on its raised beach and further into its forested hinterland. Dundas Estate meanwhile keep it low key, focusing on the regular weddings they host, but you're free to amble around, with the area around Dundas Loch the most scenic. The Dalmeny Estate can be a touch on the unwelcoming side in my experience, but again you're allowed to walk here with the best option the gorgeous coastal walk that leads to within striking distance of the Edinburgh suburb of Cramond.
John Muir Way
This 130-mile long distance walk is recognised as one of 'Scotland's Great Trails'. And it is a great, despite the fact the man who it was dedicated to – who famously declared 'the mountains are calling and I must go' – may have bemoaned the lack of hills, bar the initial sections out of Helensburgh and across to Kirkintilloch. What I love about the John Muir Way is not just that it goes past my front door, but that it runs right through Central Scotland on route to Muir's birthplace in Dunbar too.
Loch Lomond from the John Muir Way (Image: Robin McKelvie)
You can just break off bite-sized chunks rather than struggle to find the two weeks you'll need to tackle it all coast-to-coast. I've almost completed it now after spending the last few years enjoying various parts with pals and family. I love the first section from the Clyde to Loch Lomond and the glorious parts along the East Lothian coast at the other end. Each section is an utter joy
