Dingwall’s biggest
Pefferside Park
Park or garden
2.5 ha (6 acres)0.3 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dingwall
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Dingwall · parks, paths & countryside
Dingwall is on the coast
The sea makes up 11% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Dingwall add up to 0.8 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 47% of residents. Dingwall has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
0.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
47%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
41 km
2.3 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: Glen Strathfarrar National Scenic Area
The sea
11%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Dingwall?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast11% of the area within 5 km is sea.Parks can be a walk away53% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Dingwall’s strongest suit is the sea. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dingwall’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 Dingwall
The biggest is Pefferside Park, 2.5 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
5 in 10 Dingwall 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 (47%)Further (53%)
Dingwall47%
Highland towns82%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 2,800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 9 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 586 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Glen Strathfarrar National Scenic Area is 15 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
Glen Strathfarrar
15 mi south-west40 km²since 1980
National Scenic Area
Dornoch Firth
16 mi north76 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Dingwall
41 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Dingwall and the kilometre around it, 2.3 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 Dingwall; 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 Dingwall: 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 | 10.2 | 7.8 | 6.6 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 102 | 90 | 82 | 63 | 66 | 70 | 70 | 76 | 78 | 107 | 99 | 107 |
April is the driest month (63 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 18 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 107 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 74 nights a year. The climate in Dingwall →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Dingwall
11% of the area within 5 km of Dingwall 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
9 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
Neil M Gunn Viewpoint1.1 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 2
Cnoc Ravoch213 m (699 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCnoc Tigh na Fhirich1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 9
Plus 9 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.
Muir of OrdAlnessInvergordonInvernessDingwall
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dingwall | – | 0.8 | 47% | 0% |
| Muir of Ord 6.1 mi | – | 5.1 | 89% | 0% |
| Alness 9.3 mi | – | 2.6 | 78% | 0% |
| Invergordon 11.3 mi | – | 2.1 | 95% | 0% |
| Inverness 12.0 mi | – | 3.5 | 89% | 0% |
Muir of Ord, Alness and Invergordon have at least twice Dingwall’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Dingwall
What is the biggest park in Dingwall?
Pefferside Park, 2.5 ha (6 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Dingwall near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Glen Strathfarrar National Scenic Area, 15 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 40 km² and was designated in 1980.
How many people in Dingwall live near a park?
47% 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 Dingwall?
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 Dingwall’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dingwall’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.