Buckhaven’s biggest
Herd Park
Playing field
2.3 ha (6 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.7 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Oliver Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Buckhaven · parks, paths & countryside
Buckhaven is on the coast, on the Fife Coastal Path
The sea makes up 45% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Buckhaven add up to 5.3 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 95% of residents. Buckhaven has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
5.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
95%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
32 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
45%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Buckhaven?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast45% of the area within 5 km is sea; 5 beaches mapped.On a long-distance trailThe Fife Coastal Path passes through.
Buckhaven’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the Fife Coastal Path.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Buckhaven’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 Buckhaven
The biggest is Herd Park, 2.3 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Stewart Park
Park or garden · 200 m outside town
0.7 ha (2 acres)0.2 km of path
0.8 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Buckhaven 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 (95%)Further (5%)
Buckhaven95%
Fife towns93%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 49 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 90 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Buckhaven is on the Fife Coastal Path
32 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Buckhaven 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.
NationalRegional
Fife Coastal Path6.8 km
Fife Pilgrim Way1.1 km
The Fife Coastal Path, a national route, passes Buckhaven. The regional route here is the Fife Pilgrim Way.
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 Buckhaven: June 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) | 7.5 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.6 | 17.1 | 15.1 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 58 | 52 | 45 | 52 | 64 | 67 | 71 | 59 | 80 | 70 | 66 |
April is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 80 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 31 nights a year. The climate in Buckhaven →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Buckhaven
45% of the area within 5 km of Buckhaven is sea. 5 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Old BeachIn town
DirectionsThe Fife Coastal Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by SEPA; check it before swimming.
Things to do
49 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
Playgrounds 49
Plus 49 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.
MethilLevenKennowayGlenrothesKirkcaldy and DysartLeslieBuckhaven
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckhaven | – | 5.3 | 95% | 0% |
| Methil 1.0 mi | – | 3.7 | 70% | 0% |
| Leven 2.1 mi | – | 3.6 | 93% | 0% |
| Kennoway 2.6 mi | – | 2.4 | 78% | 0% |
| Glenrothes 5.7 mi | – | 4.4 | 90% | 0% |
| Kirkcaldy and Dysart 6.2 mi | – | 4.1 | 80% | 0% |
| Leslie 7.2 mi | – | 6.8 | 84% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Buckhaven
What is the biggest park in Buckhaven?
Herd Park, 2.3 ha (6 acres). Stewart Park (0.7 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Buckhaven near a National Park?
No National Park or National Scenic Area is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Buckhaven.
What are the best walks near Buckhaven?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Fife Coastal Path and Fife Pilgrim Way.
How many people in Buckhaven live near a park?
95% 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 Buckhaven?
June 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 Buckhaven’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Buckhaven’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.