Almost everyone in Hawick lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 98% of residents. Parks and playing fields in Hawick add up to 5.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. 60 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.9 for every square kilometre. Hawick has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
The biggest is Wilton Lodge Park, 29 ha (72 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 8 named parks by size: 49 ha (121 acres) and 6 km of path
Parks & gardens 42 haPlaying fields 7.6 ha
The two biggest, Wilton Lodge Park and Miller's Knowes, are 75% of the named green space and carry 4 km of path between them. 4 of the 8 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Hawick’s biggest
Wilton Lodge Park
Park or garden
29 ha (72 acres)3.0 km of path
40 minto walk all 3 km of path
41 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi westfrom the centre
Waterfall Wilton Park, Hawick Museum (Formerly Wilton Lodge) Including Toilet Block and Boundary Wall Grade II*
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 (98%)Further (2%)
Hawick98%
Scottish Borders towns81%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 27 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 397 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area is 8.5 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
Northumberland National Park covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Hawick is on the Borders Abbeys Way
60 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Hawick and the kilometre around it, 2.9 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.
National
Borders Abbeys Way7.7 km
Cross Borders Drove Road (Traquair to Hawick)2.7 km
Romans and Reivers Route1.5 km
The Borders Abbeys Way, a national route, passes Hawick.
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 Hawick: May 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)
7.7
9.5
11.6
14.1
16.2
17.4
16.9
15.0
12.6
10.3
8.2
7.1
High (°C)
6
7
9
12
15
18
20
19
16
13
9
6
Rain (mm)
104
82
69
57
57
69
72
81
67
100
98
105
April is the driest month (57 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 105 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 66 nights a year. The climate in Hawick →
Things to do
2 viewpoints and 27 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Hawick
What is the biggest park in Hawick?
Wilton Lodge Park, 29 ha (72 acres), with 3 km of path. Miller's Knowes (7.6 ha) is second. 8 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Hawick near a National Park?
Yes. Northumberland National Park begins 12 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area, 8.5 mi away.
What are the best walks near Hawick?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Borders Abbeys Way, Cross Borders Drove Road (Traquair to Hawick) and Romans and Reivers Route. Wilton Lodge Park alone has 3 km of path.
How many people in Hawick live near a park?
98% 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 Hawick?
May 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 Hawick’s overall grade.
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.
Photo: John H Darch · CC BY-SA 2.0