Leslie’s biggest
Common
Park or garden
7.1 ha (18 acres)2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
10 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Leslie
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Leslie · parks, paths & countryside
84% of Leslie’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Footpaths add up to 61 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 5.7 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Leslie add up to 6.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Leslie has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
6.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
84%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
61 km
5.7 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 map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Leslie’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 Leslie
The biggest is Common, 7.1 ha (18 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Tanshill Park
Park or garden · 140 m outside town
5.6 ha (14 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Leslie’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 (84%)Further (17%)
Leslie84%
Fife towns93%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 66 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 44 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
4 waymarked walks pass through or near Leslie
61 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Leslie and the kilometre around it, 5.7 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.
RegionalLocal
Fife Pilgrim Way8.5 km
Drumain Dander0.6 km
East Feal Stroll0.6 km
Bishop Hill Loop0.4 km
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 Leslie: 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) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 92 | 81 | 76 | 59 | 64 | 73 | 76 | 82 | 73 | 109 | 94 | 92 |
April is the driest month (59 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 109 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 55 nights a year. The climate in Leslie →
Things to do
3 viewpoints, 66 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
Leslie is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Pathhead Sands6.1 mi from Leslie’s edge
DirectionsScart Island6.2 mi from Leslie’s edge
DirectionsBurleigh Sands6.4 mi from Leslie’s edge
DirectionsOld Beach6.6 mi from Leslie’s edge
DirectionsKinghorn Beach9.1 mi from Leslie’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.
Up high. Goatmilk Hill, at 171 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Leslie.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 2
Goatmilk Hill171 m (561 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsRedwells Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 66
Breadalbane Court0.3 mi from town
DirectionsRiverside Park Pond End0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCardean Way0.5 mi from town
DirectionsSommerville Way0.5 mi from town
DirectionsBalgeddie Firs0.6 mi from town
DirectionsEllon Park0.6 mi from town
DirectionsTarland Knowe0.6 mi from town
DirectionsLeslie Parks0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 58 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.
GlenrothesCardenden and AuchterderranBallingryKirkcaldy and DysartLochgellyKennowayLeslie
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie | – | 6.8 | 84% | 0% |
| Glenrothes 1.5 mi | – | 4.4 | 90% | 0% |
| Cardenden and Auchterderran 4.3 mi | – | 2.6 | 91% | 0% |
| Ballingry 5.0 mi | – | 24.0 | 100% | 0% |
| Kirkcaldy and Dysart 5.7 mi | – | 4.1 | 80% | 0% |
| Lochgelly 6.3 mi | – | 2.8 | 98% | 0% |
| Kennoway 6.6 mi | – | 2.4 | 78% | 0% |
Ballingry has at least twice Leslie’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Leslie
What is the biggest park in Leslie?
Common, 7.1 ha (18 acres), with 2.1 km of path. Tanshill Park (5.6 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Leslie near a National Park?
No National Park or National Scenic Area is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Leslie.
What are the best walks near Leslie?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Fife Pilgrim Way, Drumain Dander and East Feal Stroll. Common alone has 2.1 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Leslie?
Pathhead Sands, 6.1 mi from the edge of the town, then Scart Island (6.2 mi). Leslie itself is inland.
How many people in Leslie live near a park?
84% 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 Leslie?
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 Leslie’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Leslie’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.