Whitburn’s biggest
Polkemmet Country Park
Park or garden · 10 m outside town
68 ha (169 acres)9.0 km of path
2 hto walk all 9 km of path
96 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.8 mi westfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Leslie Barrie · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Whitburn · parks, paths & countryside
92% of Whitburn’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Whitburn add up to 5.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical town in England and Wales has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 66 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 4.4 for every square kilometre. Whitburn has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
5.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
92%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
66 km
4.4 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
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Whitburn’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 Whitburn
The biggest is Polkemmet Country Park, 68 ha (169 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Blaeberryhill Park
Park or garden
19 ha (48 acres)4.1 km of path
55 minto walk all 4.1 km of path
27 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Whitburn
Glen WalkTown PathPentland Walk
Directionsto the nearest entrance
King George V Park
Playing field
7.1 ha (17 acres)0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
10 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Whitburn
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Whitburn’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 (92%)Further (8%)
Whitburn92%
West Lothian towns90%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 1,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 785 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Whitburn
66 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Whitburn and the kilometre around it, 4.4 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 Whitburn; 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 Whitburn: 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) | 7.6 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 7.0 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 122 | 97 | 88 | 61 | 70 | 72 | 89 | 100 | 85 | 121 | 106 | 110 |
April is the driest month (61 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 122 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 69 nights a year. The climate in Whitburn →
Things to do
15 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
Whitburn is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Drum Sands16 mi from Whitburn’s edge
DirectionsSandy Cove (Old Picnic Spot)18 mi from Whitburn’s edge
DirectionsSandy Bays18 mi from Whitburn’s edge
DirectionsRoyston Beach18 mi from Whitburn’s edge
DirectionsBlack Sands19 mi from Whitburn’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
Hills and peaks 2
Greenrigg Bing0.8 mi from town
DirectionsCrane Hillock1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 15
Heartlands Swing Parkin town
DirectionsMiners Play Park0.3 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Run Free Dog Fields - Whitburn0.3 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
ArmadaleHarthillFauldhouseBlackburnBathgateWest CalderWhitburn
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitburn | – | 5.2 | 92% | 0% |
| Armadale 2.3 mi | – | 2.1 | 92% | 0% |
| Harthill 2.4 mi | – | 5.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Fauldhouse 2.5 mi | – | 2.3 | 86% | 0% |
| Blackburn 2.7 mi | – | 1.1 | 97% | 0% |
| Bathgate 3.2 mi | – | 2.3 | 84% | 0% |
| West Calder 4.7 mi | – | 2.1 | 85% | 0% |
None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Whitburn
What is the biggest park in Whitburn?
Polkemmet Country Park, 68 ha (169 acres), with 9 km of path, just outside the locality. Blaeberryhill Park (19 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Whitburn near a National Park?
No National Park or National Scenic Area is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Whitburn.
What is the nearest beach to Whitburn?
Drum Sands, 16 mi from the edge of the town, then Sandy Cove (Old Picnic Spot) (18 mi). Whitburn itself is inland.
How many people in Whitburn live near a park?
92% 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 Whitburn?
June 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 Whitburn’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Whitburn’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.