Stornoway’s biggest
Bayhead Park
Park or garden
0.8 ha (2 acres)0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Stornoway
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Vanhercke Christiaan · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Stornoway · parks, paths & countryside
Stornoway is on the coast
The sea makes up 32% of the area within 5 km. 62% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Stornoway add up to 1.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Stornoway has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
1.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
62%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
50 km
2.7 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
Nearest: South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area
The sea
32%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Stornoway?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast32% of the area within 5 km is sea; 19 beaches mapped.Historic parksLews Castle And Lady Lever Park is a historic garden or designed landscape.Parks can be a walk away38% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Stornoway’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by its historic parks. 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 Stornoway’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 Stornoway
The biggest is Bayhead Park, 0.8 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
6 in 10 Stornoway 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 (62%)Further (38%)
Stornoway62%
Na h-Eileanan Siar towns62%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,700 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 269 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The South Lewis, Harris and North Uist 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
South Lewis, Harris and North Uist
16 mi west1,063 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Stornoway
50 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Stornoway and the kilometre around it, 2.7 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.
RegionalOther waymarked
Lews Castle Parkrun5.1 km
Hebridean Way (Hiking)3.8 km
The regional route here is the Hebridean Way (Hiking).
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 Stornoway
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Stornoway’s named parks.
Registered · Grade Lews Castle And Lady Lever Park1.5 ha
Heritage walks
Lews Castle Parkrun 5.1 km
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 Stornoway: June to August
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) | 7.1 | 9.2 | 11.6 | 14.3 | 16.7 | 18.2 | 17.6 | 15.3 | 12.7 | 10.1 | 7.7 | 6.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 157 | 123 | 114 | 77 | 72 | 68 | 80 | 92 | 109 | 142 | 139 | 152 |
June is the driest month (68 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 17 °C). Winter days are short, about 6 hours of daylight in December, and 157 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 30 nights a year. The climate in Stornoway →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Stornoway
32% of the area within 5 km of Stornoway is sea. 19 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 3 with a name.
Geo Bhan0.3 mi from town
DirectionsMol Bheag0.5 mi from town
DirectionsTràigh Thunga0.6 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
2 viewpoints and 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 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 4
Cnoc nan Uan72 m (236 ft) · in town
DirectionsCnoc na Croich66 m (217 ft) · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsBuaile na Cuthaig72 m (236 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCnoc Allt Chlisgro61 m (200 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 17
Plus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Laxdale Holiday Park (overflow) Camping Field0.3 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 2
Goat Island Slipway0.0 mi from town
DirectionsCuddy Point Slipway0.1 mi from town
DirectionsQuestions about the outdoors in Stornoway
What is the biggest park in Stornoway?
Bayhead Park, 0.8 ha (2 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Stornoway near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area, 16 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,063 km² and was designated in 1980.
What are the best walks near Stornoway?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Lews Castle Parkrun and Hebridean Way (Hiking).
How many people in Stornoway live near a park?
62% 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 Stornoway?
June to August: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Stornoway are historic?
Lews Castle And Lady Lever Park (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 Stornoway’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Stornoway’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.