Bo'ness’ biggest
Kinneil Nature Reserve
Park or garden
48 ha (118 acres)6.1 km of path
1 h 20 minto walk all 6.1 km of path
67 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi north-westfrom the centre
Nature reserve
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Bob Simpson · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Bo'ness · parks, paths & countryside
Bo'ness is on the coast
The sea makes up 34% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Bo'ness add up to 6.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 90% of residents. Bo'ness has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
6.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
90%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
71 km
2.9 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
The sea
34%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Bo'ness?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast34% of the area within 5 km is sea; 7 beaches mapped.On a long-distance trailThe John Muir Way passes through.
Bo'ness’ strongest suit is the sea, followed by the John Muir Way.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Bo'ness’ 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 Bo'ness
The biggest is Kinneil Nature Reserve, 48 ha (118 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 7 named parks by size: 68 ha (168 acres) and 8 km of path
Parks & gardens 60 haPlaying fields 8.2 ha
The two biggest, Kinneil Nature Reserve and Kinningars Park, are 81% of the named green space and carry 6 km of path between them.
Kinningars Park
Park or garden
7.3 ha (18 acres)
10 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.8 mi eastfrom the centre
Bridgeness, Kinningars Park Dovecot Including Wall and Capped Pit Shaft Grade II*
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Victoria Park
Park or garden
3.1 ha (8 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Bo'ness
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Douglas Park
Playing field
4.7 ha (12 acres)0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Bo'ness
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Calder Park
Playing field
3.6 ha (9 acres)0.4 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Glebe Park
Park or garden
1.1 ha (3 acres)0.5 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Bo'ness
Glebe Park Bandstand (Off Stewart Avenue) Grade II*
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Kinglass Park
Park or garden
0.7 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of Bo'ness
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Bo'ness residents live within a 5-minute walk of 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 (90%)Further (10%)
Bo'ness90%
Falkirk towns94%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 12 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,240 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Bo'ness is on the John Muir Way
71 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Bo'ness and the kilometre around it, 2.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical town in England and Wales has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
National
John Muir Way (Linlithgow to South Queensferry)11.1 km
The John Muir Way, a national route, passes Bo'ness.
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 Bo'ness: May to September
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) | 7.6 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.6 | 17.0 | 15.1 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 7.0 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 76 | 62 | 50 | 48 | 79 | 71 | 88 | 68 | 98 | 92 | 88 |
May is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 98 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 39 nights a year. The climate in Bo'ness →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Bo'ness
34% of the area within 5 km of Bo'ness is sea. 7 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by SEPA; check it before swimming.
Things to do
12 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Airngath Hill171 m (561 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 2
Kinneil Nature Reserve20 ha · in town
DirectionsBo'mains Meadow3.3 ha · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 12
Douglas Park Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Upper Forth Boat Clubin town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
LinlithgowPolmontGrangemouthMaddistonCairneyhillBrightonsBo'ness
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bo'ness | – | 6.3 | 90% | 0% |
| Linlithgow 2.4 mi | – | 2.2 | 93% | 0% |
| Polmont 4.3 mi | – | 7.0 | 91% | 0% |
| Grangemouth 4.4 mi | – | 3.6 | 73% | 0% |
| Maddiston 4.4 mi | – | 3.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Cairneyhill 4.4 mi | – | 3.4 | 96% | 0% |
| Brightons 4.9 mi | – | 5.9 | 86% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Bo'ness
What is the biggest park in Bo'ness?
Kinneil Nature Reserve, 48 ha (118 acres), with 6.1 km of path. Kinningars Park (7.3 ha) is second. 7 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Bo'ness near a National Park?
No National Park or National Scenic Area is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Bo'ness.
What are the best walks near Bo'ness?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the John Muir Way (Linlithgow to South Queensferry). Kinneil Nature Reserve alone has 6.1 km of path.
How many people in Bo'ness live near a park?
90% 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 Bo'ness?
May to September: 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 Bo'ness’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Bo'ness’ 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.