Kirkwall’s biggest
Papdale East Park
Park or garden
3.1 ha (8 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Kirkwall · parks, paths & countryside
Kirkwall is on the coast
The sea makes up 46% of the area within 5 km. The Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area begins 5.4 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Kirkwall add up to 4.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Kirkwall has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
4.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
71%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
40 km
1.8 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
Hoy and West Mainland starts 5.4 mi out, past the 5 km
The sea
46%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Kirkwall?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast46% of the area within 5 km is sea; 2 beaches mapped.Countryside close byThe Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area starts 5.4 mi west.
Kirkwall’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area close by.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Kirkwall’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 Kirkwall
The biggest is Papdale East Park, 3.1 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Bignold Park
Playing field
5.2 ha (13 acres)
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Kirkwall
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Brandyquoy Park
Park or garden
1.0 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of Kirkwall
Earl's Palace, Kirkwall monument +1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 Kirkwall 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 (71%)Further (29%)
Kirkwall71%
Orkney Islands towns71%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 2,100 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 10 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 739 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area is 5.4 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
Hoy and West Mainland
5.4 mi west160 km²since 1980
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Kirkwall scores 0% on it even though the Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area is 5.4 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Kirkwall
40 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Kirkwall and the kilometre around it, 1.8 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 Kirkwall; 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 Kirkwall: July and 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) | 6.9 | 9.2 | 11.6 | 14.4 | 16.9 | 18.4 | 17.8 | 15.5 | 12.7 | 10.0 | 7.6 | 6.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 135 | 92 | 83 | 69 | 56 | 65 | 49 | 65 | 88 | 118 | 131 | 115 |
July is the driest month (49 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 17 °C). Winter days are short, about 6 hours of daylight in December, and 135 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 25 nights a year. The climate in Kirkwall →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Kirkwall
46% of the area within 5 km of Kirkwall is sea. 2 beaches are mapped within 5 km.
Inganess beach0.8 mi from town
DirectionsScapa beach1.0 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
10 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
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 10
Plus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 5
Plus 5 slipways without a name on the map.
Questions about the outdoors in Kirkwall
What is the biggest park in Kirkwall?
Papdale East Park, 3.1 ha (8 acres), with 0.7 km of path. Bignold Park (5.2 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Kirkwall near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area, 5.4 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 160 km² and was designated in 1980.
How many people in Kirkwall live near a park?
71% 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 Kirkwall?
July and August: 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 Kirkwall’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Kirkwall’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.