Photo: Jd2207 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.090% of Plains’ residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Plains add up to 3.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. 19 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.2 for every square kilometre. Plains has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Plains’ locality.
How close Plains’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).
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 11 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 284 residents.
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Plains
19 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Plains and the kilometre around it, 2.2 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.
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.
The best walking months in Plains: 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) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 122 | 105 | 97 | 67 | 72 | 88 | 104 | 112 | 100 | 129 | 122 | 131 |
April is the driest month (67 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 18 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 131 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 59 nights a year. The climate in Plains →
11 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
Plains is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Check the water before you swim. SEPA tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Up high. Annies Hill, at 218 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Plains.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 4
Plus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 11
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plains | – | 3.3 | 90% | 0% |
| Airdrie 1.9 mi | – | 3.1 | 95% | 0% |
| Chapelhall 3.0 mi | – | 0.9 | 86% | 0% |
| Coatbridge 4.2 mi | – | 4.5 | 87% | 0% |
| Holytown 4.6 mi | – | 3.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Glenboig 4.7 mi | – | 4.3 | 78% | 0% |
| Newarthill 4.8 mi | – | 2.2 | 80% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Plains
Is Plains near a National Park?
No National Park or National Scenic Area is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Plains.
What are the best walks near Plains?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the The North Calder Heritage Trail.
What is the nearest beach to Plains?
Sandy Cove (Old Picnic Spot), 11 mi from the edge of the town, then Sandy Bays (11 mi). Plains itself is inland.
How many people in Plains live near a park?
90% 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 Plains?
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 Plains’ overall grade.
Where Plains’ 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.