Duns’ biggest
Castle Park
Playing field
2.8 ha (7 acres)
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Langtongate, Berwickshire High School Grade II*
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Steven Brown · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Duns · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Duns
18 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.3 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Duns add up to 3.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. 75% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Duns has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
3.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
75%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
18 km
1.3 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: Northumberland National Park
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Duns’ 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 Duns
The biggest is Castle Park, 2.8 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Duns Football Club
Playing field
1.5 ha (4 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Langtongate, Berwickshire High School Grade II*
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 Duns 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 (75%)Further (26%)
Duns75%
Scottish Borders towns81%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 623 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
Northumberland National Park is 13 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
Eildon and Leaderfoot
15 mi south-west39 km²since 1980
Northumberland National Park covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Duns
18 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Duns and the kilometre around it, 1.3 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 Duns; 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.
History along the way
A historic garden or designed landscape in Duns
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Duns’ named parks.
Registered · Grade Duns Castle12 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 Duns: June, July and 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 | 16.2 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 7.0 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 58 | 57 | 56 | 52 | 61 | 66 | 77 | 64 | 90 | 80 | 75 |
May is the driest month (52 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 57 nights a year. The climate in Duns →
Things to do
5 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
Duns is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Coldingham Sands11 mi from Duns’ edge
DirectionsWhitesands15 mi from Duns’ edge
DirectionsHedderwick Sands18 mi from Duns’ edge
DirectionsTyne Sands18 mi from Duns’ edge
DirectionsRavensheugh Sands19 mi from Duns’ 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
Viewpoints 1
Duns Law0.1 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 1
Duns Law0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
EyemouthDuns
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duns | – | 3.1 | 75% | 0% |
| Eyemouth 11.7 mi | – | 0.5 | 71% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Duns
What is the biggest park in Duns?
Castle Park, 2.8 ha (7 acres). Duns Football Club (1.5 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Duns near a National Park?
Yes. Northumberland National Park begins 13 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957.
What is the nearest beach to Duns?
Coldingham Sands, 11 mi from the edge of the town, then Whitesands (15 mi). Duns itself is inland.
How many people in Duns live near a park?
75% 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 Duns?
June, July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Duns are historic?
Duns Castle (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 Duns’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Duns’ 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.