Alness’ biggest
Crawl Park
Park or garden
8.2 ha (20 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
11 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Alness
Averon River Path
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Richard Dorrell · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Alness · parks, paths & countryside
Alness is on the coast
The sea makes up 18% of the area within 5 km. 52 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.4 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Alness add up to 2.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Alness has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
2.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
78%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
52 km
3.4 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: Dornoch Firth National Scenic Area
The sea
18%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Alness’ 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 Alness
The biggest is Crawl Park, 8.2 ha (20 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Shillinghill Park
Park or garden
0.9 ha (2 acres)0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
Centralin the middle of Alness
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Darroch Brae
Park or garden
1.4 ha (3 acres)0.2 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Alness 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 (78%)Further (22%)
Alness78%
Highland towns82%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 17 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 349 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Dornoch Firth National Scenic Area is 9.0 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
Dornoch Firth
9.0 mi north76 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Alness
52 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Alness and the kilometre around it, 3.4 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.
Local
John O'Groats Trail (Alness to Tain)4.8 km
John O'Groats Trail (Culbokie to Alness)3.2 km
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 Alness: 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) | 7.2 | 9.3 | 11.6 | 14.2 | 16.6 | 18.0 | 17.4 | 15.3 | 12.7 | 10.1 | 7.8 | 6.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 80 | 65 | 60 | 48 | 55 | 53 | 60 | 64 | 60 | 88 | 78 | 81 |
April is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 18 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 88 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Alness →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Alness
18% of the area within 5 km of Alness is sea.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by SEPA; check it before swimming.
Things to do
17 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
Yankee Pier0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 17
Plus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Plus 2 campsites 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.
InvergordonDingwallTainAlness
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alness | – | 2.6 | 78% | 0% |
| Invergordon 3.1 mi | – | 2.1 | 95% | 0% |
| Dingwall 9.3 mi | – | 0.8 | 47% | 0% |
| Tain 10.5 mi | – | 3.3 | 27% | 7% |
Questions about the outdoors in Alness
What is the biggest park in Alness?
Crawl Park, 8.2 ha (20 acres), with 0.7 km of path. Shillinghill Park (0.9 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Alness near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Dornoch Firth National Scenic Area, 9.0 mi north of the town’s edge. It covers 76 km² and was designated in 1980.
What are the best walks near Alness?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the John O'Groats Trail (Alness to Tain) and John O'Groats Trail (Culbokie to Alness).
How many people in Alness live near a park?
78% 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 Alness?
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 Alness’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Alness’ 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.