Dunblane’s biggest
Laighhills Public Park
Park or garden
22 ha (55 acres)6.2 km of path
1 h 25 minto walk all 6.2 km of path
31 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dunblane
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Dunblane · parks, paths & countryside
83% of Dunblane’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
90 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.2 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Dunblane add up to 3.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Dunblane has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
3.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
83%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
90 km
5.2 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: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs 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 Dunblane’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 Dunblane
The biggest is Laighhills Public Park, 22 ha (55 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Ochlochy Park
Park or garden
2.0 ha (5 acres)0.1 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Victoria Green
Park or garden
0.2 ha (1 acres)
0.8 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Dunblane’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 (83%)Further (18%)
Dunblane83%
Stirling towns93%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,500 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 800 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is 7.7 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
River Earn (Comrie to St Fillans)
11 mi north31 km²since 1980
National Scenic Area
The Trossachs
12 mi west49 km²since 1980
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park covers 1,861 km² and has been a National Park since 2002.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Dunblane
90 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Dunblane and the kilometre around it, 5.2 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 Dunblane; 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
2 historic gardens and designed landscapes in Dunblane
Historic Environment Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Dunblane’s named parks.
Registered · Grade Keir6.0 ha
Registered · Grade Kippenross1.4 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 Dunblane: 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) | 7.5 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.6 | 17.1 | 15.1 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 129 | 112 | 105 | 75 | 73 | 87 | 107 | 107 | 98 | 136 | 130 | 140 |
May is the driest month (73 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 140 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 59 nights a year. The climate in Dunblane →
Things to do
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
Dunblane is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Scart Island21 mi from Dunblane’s edge
DirectionsBurleigh Sands21 mi from Dunblane’s edge
DirectionsBodden Boo26 mi from Dunblane’s edge
DirectionsBlack Sands26 mi from Dunblane’s edge
DirectionsDuck Bay Beach27 mi from Dunblane’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 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 3
Plus 3 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 11
Plus 11 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.
Bridge of AllanMenstrieStirlingTullibodyAlvaFallinDunblane
ABCDOutdoors Grade
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Dunblane
What is the biggest park in Dunblane?
Laighhills Public Park, 22 ha (55 acres), with 6.2 km of path. Ochlochy Park (2.0 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Dunblane near a National Park?
Yes. Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park begins 7.7 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,861 km² and has been a National Park since 2002.
What is the nearest beach to Dunblane?
Scart Island, 21 mi from the edge of the town, then Burleigh Sands (21 mi). Dunblane itself is inland.
How many people in Dunblane live near a park?
83% 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 Dunblane?
June 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 Dunblane are historic?
Keir (Grade ) and Kippenross (Grade ) are 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 Dunblane’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dunblane’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.