Dalkeith’s biggest
Dalkeith Park
Park or garden
286 ha (706 acres)28.5 km of path
6 h 20 minto walk all 28.5 km of path
400 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi north-westfrom the centre
Campsite Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Kim Traynor · CC BY-SA 3.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Dalkeith · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Dalkeith lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
97% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Dalkeith add up to 10.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 111 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 5.5 for every square kilometre. Dalkeith has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
10.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
97%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
111 km
5.5 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: Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Dalkeith?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep97% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Historic parks3 historic gardens and designed landscapes and gardens, including Dalkeith House (Palace).
Dalkeith’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by its historic parks.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dalkeith’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 Dalkeith
The biggest is Dalkeith Park, 286 ha (706 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 308 ha (762 acres) and 31 km of path
Parks & gardens 303 haPlaying fields 5.6 ha
The two biggest, Dalkeith Park and Ironmills Park, are 97% of the named green space and carry 30 km of path between them.
Ironmills Park
Park or garden
12 ha (31 acres)1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
17 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi westfrom the centre
Cemetery Road, Bridge Grade II* Edinburgh Road, Lugton Bridge Grade II* +3 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
King's Park
Park or garden
4.7 ha (12 acres)0.5 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Cowden Park
Playing field
3.5 ha (9 acres)0.3 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dalkeith
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Waterfall Park
Playing field
2.1 ha (5 acres)0.3 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dalkeith
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Dalkeith’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 (97%)Further (3%)
Dalkeith97%
Midlothian towns95%
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; 61 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 248 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area is 16 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
Upper Tweeddale
16 mi south-west128 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Dalkeith
111 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Dalkeith and the kilometre around it, 5.5 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
North Esk Way5.5 km
Core Paths2.2 km
Close to home, the North Esk Way has 5 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
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.
History along the way
3 historic parks, and what stands in them
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Dalkeith’s named parks.
Park with listed buildings
Ironmills Park
12 ha. 5 listed structures and monuments stand inside it or at its edge.
II*Cemetery Road, BridgeII*Edinburgh Road, Lugton BridgeII*Ironmills Park, Memorial BridgeII*Ironmills Park, Pavilion
Registered · Grade Dalkeith House (Palace)6.3 ha
Registered · Grade Melville Castle9.9 ha
Registered · Grade Newbattle Abbey16 ha
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic Environment Scotland designations.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dalkeith: 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) | 7.6 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 7.0 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 57 | 50 | 46 | 50 | 73 | 69 | 76 | 66 | 90 | 83 | 72 |
April is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 90 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Dalkeith →
The coast
Beaches near Dalkeith
0% of the area within 5 km of Dalkeith is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 2 beaches are mapped within 5 km.
Fisherrow Sands3.1 mi from town
DirectionsSea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by SEPA; check it before swimming.
Things to do
61 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.
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 3
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 61
Fort Douglas0.3 mi from town
DirectionsForest School0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 59 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Dalkeith Country Park Camping0.3 mi from town
DirectionsLothian Bridge Caravan Park0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
MayfieldBonnyriggDanderhallMusselburghGorebridgeWallyfordDalkeith
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalkeith | – | 10.3 | 97% | 0% |
| Mayfield 1.5 mi | – | 3.2 | 96% | 0% |
| Bonnyrigg 2.3 mi | – | 2.0 | 95% | 0% |
| Danderhall 2.4 mi | – | 4.3 | 92% | 0% |
| Musselburgh 3.3 mi | – | 2.8 | 92% | 0% |
| Gorebridge 3.3 mi | – | 3.0 | 95% | 0% |
| Wallyford 3.6 mi | – | 2.0 | 70% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Dalkeith
What is the biggest park in Dalkeith?
Dalkeith Park, 286 ha (706 acres), with 28.5 km of path. Ironmills Park (12 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Dalkeith near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, 16 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 128 km² and was designated in 1980.
What are the best walks near Dalkeith?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the North Esk Way and Core Paths. Dalkeith Park alone has 28.5 km of path.
How many people in Dalkeith live near a park?
97% 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 Dalkeith?
June to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Dalkeith are historic?
Dalkeith House (Palace) (Grade ), Melville Castle (Grade ) and Newbattle Abbey (Grade ) are on Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.
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 Dalkeith’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dalkeith’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.