Mayfield’s biggest
Welfare Park
Park or garden
7.5 ha (19 acres)2.0 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
11 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jim Barton · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Mayfield · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Mayfield lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 96% of residents. Footpaths add up to 131 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 6.5 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Mayfield add up to 3.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Mayfield has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
3.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
96%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
131 km
6.5 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 Mayfield?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep96% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Historic parksNewbattle Abbey is a historic garden or designed landscape.
Mayfield’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 Mayfield’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 Mayfield
The biggest is Welfare Park, 7.5 ha (19 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Mayfield Park
Park or garden
6.6 ha (16 acres)1.3 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.3 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Mayfield
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Easthouses Park
Playing field
6.7 ha (17 acres)1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Mayfield
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Mayfield’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 (96%)Further (5%)
Mayfield96%
Midlothian towns95%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 600 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 216 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Upper Tweeddale 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
Upper Tweeddale
15 mi south-west128 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
3 waymarked walks pass through or near Mayfield
131 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Mayfield and the kilometre around it, 6.5 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
Gorebridge Circular Walk7.6 km
Gore Way2.0 km
North Esk Way1.1 km
Close to home, the Gorebridge Circular Walk has 8 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
A historic garden or designed landscape in Mayfield
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Mayfield’s named parks.
Registered · Grade Newbattle Abbey0.9 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 Mayfield: 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) | 60 | 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 50 nights a year. The climate in Mayfield →
Things to do
2 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
Mayfield is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Fisherrow Sands4.1 mi from Mayfield’s edge
DirectionsJoppa Shore4.6 mi from Mayfield’s edge
DirectionsMusselburgh Sands4.6 mi from Mayfield’s edge
DirectionsPortobello Beach5.1 mi from Mayfield’s edge
DirectionsEast Sands of Leith7.4 mi from Mayfield’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.
Every named place, with directions
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 4
Plus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 66
Forest Schoolin town
DirectionsFort Douglas1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 64 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Lothian Bridge Caravan Parkin town
DirectionsDalkeith Country Park Camping1.2 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.
DalkeithGorebridgeBonnyriggDanderhallLoanheadMusselburghMayfield
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayfield | – | 3.2 | 96% | 0% |
| Dalkeith 1.5 mi | – | 10.3 | 97% | 0% |
| Gorebridge 1.8 mi | – | 3.0 | 95% | 0% |
| Bonnyrigg 2.2 mi | – | 2.0 | 95% | 0% |
| Danderhall 3.7 mi | – | 4.3 | 92% | 0% |
| Loanhead 4.1 mi | – | 1.6 | 66% | 0% |
| Musselburgh 4.8 mi | – | 2.8 | 92% | 0% |
Dalkeith has at least twice Mayfield’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Mayfield
What is the biggest park in Mayfield?
Welfare Park, 7.5 ha (19 acres), with 2 km of path. Mayfield Park (6.6 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Mayfield near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, 15 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 128 km² and was designated in 1980.
What are the best walks near Mayfield?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Gorebridge Circular Walk, Gore Way and North Esk Way.
What is the nearest beach to Mayfield?
Fisherrow Sands, 4.1 mi from the edge of the town, then Joppa Shore (4.6 mi). Mayfield itself is inland.
How many people in Mayfield live near a park?
96% 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 Mayfield?
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 Mayfield are historic?
Newbattle Abbey (Grade ) is 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 Mayfield’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Mayfield’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.