Alva’s biggest
Cochrane Park
Park or garden
7.0 ha (17 acres)1.4 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.4 km of path
10 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Alva
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Alva-Johnstone Mausoleum, Alva Churchyard · Photo: Valerie Forsyth · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Alva · parks, paths & countryside
83% of Alva’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
33 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.8 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Alva add up to 2.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Alva has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
2.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
83%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
33 km
2.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical town in England and Wales 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Alva’s locality.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Scottish Government, NatureScot
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Alva
The biggest is Cochrane Park, 7.0 ha (17 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Johnstone Park
Park or garden
3.5 ha (9 acres)0.4 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Alva
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Alva’s homes are to a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (NRS Census 2022 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (83%)Further (17%)
Alva83%
Clackmannanshire towns85%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 21 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 230 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is 14 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the locality; circle size shows each one’s area. National Scenic Areas are Scotland’s finest landscapes, chosen by NatureScot.
National ParkNational Scenic AreaThe 5 km the grade counts
National Scenic Area
River Earn (Comrie to St Fillans)
16 mi north-west31 km²since 1980
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park covers 1,861 km² and has been a National Park since 2002.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Alva
33 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Alva and the kilometre around it, 2.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical town in England and Wales has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Alva; its footpaths are on the map above.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Scotland has no rights-of-way register: everyone has a right of responsible access to most land, so tracks and councils’ core paths count. Paths are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Alva: July and August
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 7.5 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.6 | 17.1 | 15.1 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| Rain (mm) | 137 | 156 | 145 | 107 | 98 | 124 | 142 | 151 | 133 | 185 | 171 | 191 |
May is the driest month (98 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 16 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 191 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 66 nights a year. The climate in Alva →
Things to do
6 viewpoints, 21 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Alva is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Scart Island15 mi from Alva’s edge
DirectionsBurleigh Sands16 mi from Alva’s edge
DirectionsBlack Sands20 mi from Alva’s edge
DirectionsSilver Sands20 mi from Alva’s edge
DirectionsDrum Sands21 mi from Alva’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. SEPA tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 7
Wee Torry0.4 mi from town
DirectionsBig Torry452 m (1,483 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCraig Leith512 m (1,680 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsMyreton Hill387 m (1,270 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsThe Nebit438 m (1,437 ft) · 0.7 mi from town
DirectionsWood Hill525 m (1,722 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsColsnaur Hill558 m (1,831 ft) · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 5
Plus 5 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 21
Plus 21 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
TullibodySauchieMenstrieTillicoultryAlloaClackmannanAlva
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alva | – | 2.3 | 83% | 0% |
| Tullibody 1.8 mi | – | 1.3 | 84% | 0% |
| Sauchie 1.8 mi | – | 1.4 | 73% | 0% |
| Menstrie 2.0 mi | – | 0.8 | 100% | 0% |
| Tillicoultry 2.4 mi | – | 2.4 | 97% | 0% |
| Alloa 2.4 mi | – | 2.2 | 92% | 0% |
| Clackmannan 3.7 mi | – | 1.7 | 83% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Alva
What is the biggest park in Alva?
Cochrane Park, 7.0 ha (17 acres), with 1.4 km of path. Johnstone Park (3.5 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Alva near a National Park?
Yes. Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park begins 14 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,861 km² and has been a National Park since 2002.
What is the nearest beach to Alva?
Scart Island, 15 mi from the edge of the town, then Burleigh Sands (16 mi). Alva itself is inland.
How many people in Alva live near a park?
83% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (NRS Census 2022 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical town in England and Wales is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Alva?
July and August: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Scenic Area within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Alva’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Alva’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Scenic Areas: Scottish Government and NatureScot boundaries (Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, Cairngorms; the 40 National Scenic Areas), clipped to land, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, tracks, core paths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik’s Scotland extract, October 2026.
- Historic gardens, listed buildings and monuments: Historic Environment Scotland designations, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: NRS Scotland’s Census 2022 output areas.
- Grade: Scottish towns have no Outdoors Grade yet.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.