Lanark’s biggest
Lanark Moor Country Park
Park or garden
34 ha (85 acres)2.9 km of path
40 minto walk all 2.9 km of path
48 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Lanark · parks, paths & countryside
86% of Lanark’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Lanark add up to 6.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 52 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 2.5 for every square kilometre. Lanark has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
6.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
86%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
52 km
2.5 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: Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Lanark?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On a long-distance trailThe Clyde Walkway passes through.Historic parksThe Falls of Clyde is a historic garden or designed landscape.
Lanark’s strongest suit is the Clyde Walkway, followed by its historic parks.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Lanark’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 Lanark
The biggest is Lanark Moor Country Park, 34 ha (85 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Delves Park
Park or garden
2.4 ha (6 acres)0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Lanark
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Castlebank Park
Park or garden
2.5 ha (6 acres)0.2 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Lanark’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).
Within 400 m (86%)Further (14%)
Lanark86%
South Lanarkshire towns83%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 38 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 235 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area 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
Upper Tweeddale
13 mi east128 km²since 1980
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Lanark is on the Clyde Walkway
52 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Lanark and the kilometre around it, 2.5 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
Clyde Walkway7.7 km
The Clyde Walkway, a national route, passes Lanark.
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 Lanark
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Lanark’s named parks.
Registered · Grade The Falls of Clyde38 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 Lanark: 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) | 7.6 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.2 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.2 | 7.1 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 100 | 79 | 67 | 46 | 50 | 57 | 78 | 83 | 71 | 91 | 94 | 97 |
April is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 100 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 61 nights a year. The climate in Lanark →
Things to do
16 viewpoints, 38 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
Lanark is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Sandy Cove (Old Picnic Spot)15 mi from Lanark’s edge
DirectionsSandy Bays15 mi from Lanark’s edge
DirectionsNetherlee Stone Beach20 mi from Lanark’s edge
DirectionsDrum Sands27 mi from Lanark’s edge
DirectionsRoyston Beach29 mi from Lanark’s 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 16
Dipper Viewpoint0.1 mi from town
DirectionsMill Weir Viewpoint0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 14 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 5
Castle Hillin town
DirectionsGentleman's Mound0.7 mi from town
DirectionsHakespie Hill0.7 mi from town
DirectionsDrummonds Hill1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 4
Dunduff Linn0.0 mi from town
DirectionsCorra Linn0.5 mi from town
DirectionsStonebyres1.0 mi from town
DirectionsBonnington Linn1.0 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 2
Cartland Crags - Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR10 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsCleghorn Glen - Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR40 ha · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 38
Plus 38 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.
CarlukeLesmahagowKirkmuirhill and BlackwoodLawStonehouseLarkhallLanark
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanark | – | 6.6 | 86% | 0% |
| Carluke 4.6 mi | – | 3.0 | 99% | 0% |
| Lesmahagow 5.1 mi | – | 1.9 | 67% | 0% |
| Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood 5.8 mi | – | 1.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Law 6.7 mi | – | 1.2 | 78% | 0% |
| Stonehouse 8.5 mi | – | 1.2 | 33% | 0% |
| Larkhall 8.8 mi | – | 1.7 | 84% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Lanark
What is the biggest park in Lanark?
Lanark Moor Country Park, 34 ha (85 acres), with 2.9 km of path. Delves Park (2.4 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Lanark near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, 13 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 128 km² and was designated in 1980.
What are the best walks near Lanark?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Clyde Walkway. Lanark Moor Country Park alone has 2.9 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Lanark?
Sandy Cove (Old Picnic Spot), 15 mi from the edge of the town, then Sandy Bays (15 mi). Lanark itself is inland.
How many people in Lanark live near a park?
86% 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 Lanark?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Lanark are historic?
The Falls of Clyde (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 Lanark’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Lanark’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.