John Muir Way: Prestonpans to North Berwick

Friday 29th August 2025

To do my next stage of the John Muir Way I first needed to get back to Prestonpans, which meant catching a train from Edinburgh, where I was staying, and I almost missed it! The trains were every hour so I would have had a long wait for the next one and with sensational weather I didn’t want to waste any more time than I needed to. Fortunately I caught the train and got off at Prestonpans station where I made my way back through the village to the coast and rejoined the John Muir Way. I soon had amazing views across the Firth of Forth, which from my perspective looked like a large landlocked lake because I couldn’t see the mouth of the estuary. It was a stunning sight stretching back to the Pentland Hills in the distance behind me with Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, and moving clockwise around the view I came to the Forth Bridges and then along the Fife Coast, which I walked in 2021, and then at some point my view across the Firth of Forth merged with the East Lothian coast, which I would be following this day under blue skies and great sunshine. Soon, however, I was forced away from the route of the John Muir Way by construction work to walk beside the road until I reached Cockenzie Harbour. My progressed then continued past the unified coastal towns of Cockenzie and Port Seton until I reached Seton Sands where I couldn’t resist the temptation to drop down onto the beach and have a wonderfully relaxing walk with extensive views across the sand under the clear blue skies. I went into this holiday feeling very tired due to stress and it had succeeded in releasing those stresses from my body and helping me to relax. This walk across the sands was another part of that prescription.

The view was mesmerising and I couldn’t help taking picture after picture of the awesome sight that was reminiscent of the views I had seen four years ago while walking the Fife Coastal Path, just the other side of the estuary. When rocks began to appear I climbed up onto the dunes and followed a course between the beach and the road, which later became wooded until finally I returned to the road to head into the village of Aberlady. On the other side I emerged to an extensive view across Aberlady Bay where I decided to stop and have my lunch before setting off again, however, from this point the John Muir Way keeps to the road for a long while and I wanted to stay beside the coast so I initially followed faint paths through the grass at the head of the bay that led me to a long wooden bridge. An information board informed me that over the bridge is Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve while the John Muir Way frustratingly goes inland, which seemed to me a travesty in such good weather, so I ignored the trail and crossed the bridge. I now had no directions to follow and no idea where I was going, so when I reached a junction I made a hasty decision to turn left and this brought me to the sandy beach of Gullane Sands. Progress was slow across the soft sand as I made my way to Gullane Point and off the beach to round the headland while trying to find my way, which just added to the fun.

I found it thoroughly enjoyable trying to navigate a course through an area that felt like I was lost in a maze of conflicting, narrow paths through the dunes with a golf course inland that could bite me if I strayed too far. Eventually I emerged above Gullane Bay with the village above and I could have returned to the John Muir Way at this point, which passes through Gullane, but I was having too much fun following the coast so I turned left onto a path that kept up the challenge. Sometimes I dropped onto the beach and other times I tried to find a path through the dunes which avoided the ubiquitous golf courses. Eventually a wooden boardwalk took me off a beach and up to the back of some houses, and at the far end I turned right to reach a junction where I was joined by a familiar sight, the John Muir Way, which had finally had enough of following roads and had returned to the coast. Just as it started to rain, I followed the trail along the edge of a golf course and into the town of North Berwick. The weather on this walk provided me with sensational views across the sands, notably on Seton Sands and Gosford Bay, where I took loads of pictures. The good weather encouraged me to divert off the trail, making up my own way along the coast, while the John Muir Way takes a cyclist-friendly route inland. I’m sure if the weather had been poor then I would have been happy to follow the trail, but instead I had a great walk.

John Muir Way: Cramond Bridge to Prestonpans

Thursday 28th August 2025

At the end of the previous day on the John Muir Way, I had reached the edge of Edinburgh, at Cromond Bridge, so after spending the night in the city I caught a bus back to Cramond Bridge and resumed my walk along the trail. This took me across the old Cramond Brig and along a street of expensive houses before crossing Donaldson’s Mains Park and emerging back onto the Queensferry Road. More residential streets eventually led me to Clemiston Road with Corstorphine Hill Local Nature Reserve on my left. I had to stay to the right of the road for a while but eventually I came to an entrance into the park and a path that climbed surprisingly steep for the John Muir Way, and for inside a city, but it wasn’t too long before I reached the top where I found a communications mast and a tower dedicated to Sir Water Scott. This was fabulous woodland scenery with a maze of paths that made it tricky for me to know which way the John Muir Way goes, but it soon became apparent to me that I just needed to follow a fence and this eventually led me to a viewpoint over the City of Edinburgh, though overcast skies meant that the views were not great with the Pentland Hills to the south dominating the skyline, but it was the steep terrain underfoot that appealed to me most. 

I descended down the hill to reach Corstorphine Road where a short spell along a residential road brought me to an old railway line, now a cycle track, that soon brought me to Balgreen tram station. With Murrayfield rugby stadium ahead of me I turned right beside the Water of Leith to follow the river for a while with a brief interlude through the beautiful gardens of Saughton Park. I was frustrated at not being able to get a good picture of the river because it was so narrow and overgrown, but I still had an enjoyable walk beside it and this came to an end when I reached two viaducts. I passed underneath the railway and climbed up to join the Union Canal, following it towards the city centre. When I reached the end of the canal, at Lochrin Basin, it started to rain and apart from a brief time while I had my lunch it continued to rain as I crossed Bruntsfield Links and the Meadows, extensive parks just to the south of the city centre. The rain eased as I approached Arthur’s Seat, a craggy hill that looms over Edinburgh, and which I climbed in 2021. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so again. Instead I dropped down to the mouth of an early railway tunnel, part of the Innocent Railway, even though it is technically not on John Muir Way. I passed through this tunnel four years ago, so I remembered where the tunnel was and rather assumed the trail goes through it, but instead it follows the edge of Holyrood Park before dropping onto the course of the old railway just after the end of the tunnel.

The sun came out at this time and I was opportunistic that it would continue for the rest of the afternoon, but dark clouds and brief showers soon reappeared, though I had a pleasant walk along the course of the old railway, now a cycle path, which I had previously walked in 2021, in the other direction. At this point I became bothered by some blisters which were making walking increasingly difficult, so I came off the trail for a rest, and some supplies, at a supermarket. On resuming the trail I followed the Brunstane Burn into wilder scenery as the city was now clearly being left behind, and so the walking was also much more pleasing. It was fun to realise that I had started this walk on the western edge of the City of Edinburgh and I was now on the eastern edge having crossed the whole city and when I emerged onto the main road I had officially left the city and was in East Lothian, approaching the coastal town of Musselburgh. It was great to be back beside the Forth estuary having been deprived of the coastline throughout my traverse of Edinburgh, and the sea would be my constant companion for the rest of the holiday. The John Muir Way was originally much shorter than it is now and started in Musselburgh, and soon I saw signs still indicating that, but now, instead of being confined to East Lothian, the trail starts in Helensburgh and crosses Scotland. From this point I was on the original trail. 

From the harbour, I followed the coast, across Fisherrow Links, to the mouth of the River Esk where I had to turn inland to reach a bridge before following the river back out while across the river Arthur’s Seat stuck out above the horizon below grey skies. I considered cutting the walk early because of the time of the trains, but in the end I pressed on to Prestonpans and took advantage of the long wait for the next train by having some fish & chips for dinner before slowly making my way towards the station. This walk had a lot of variety, crossing the capital of Scotland and ending beside the coast. The highlight was Corstorphine Hill and once I was on the other side of Edinburgh, and it had stopped raining, it was a pleasant walk.

John Muir Way: Linlithgow to Cramond Bridge

Wednesday 27th August 2025

While walking along the John Muir Way I stayed in various youth hostels that were a significant distance away from the trail, making use of public transport to get to and from the hostels. To start, I spent two nights at the Glasgow Youth Hostel, twice travelling into and out of the city centre, and then on the next two nights I stayed at the youth hostel in Stirling, even though this was not near the trail. One advantage of this arrangement was that for half the walks I had a light rucksack, but on the other walks I had a heavier rucksack when I had to carry all my clothes. This was one such occasion as I left the youth hostel in Stirling and caught a train to Linlithgow. While walking back through the streets of Linlithgow my rucksack felt noticeably heavier than it had been the day before, though I had to remember that my rucksack had been much heavier while on the Cambrian Way three months earlier. After a lengthy walk through Linlithgow I finally reached the John Muir Way at the crossroads, near Linlithgow Bridge, where I had left the trail the day before, and followed a road north, but when the pavement beside the road ended, before crossing the A9 motorway, I became anxious that I had lost the trail. I checked the description on the walkhighlands website for reassurance and discovered that it recommends taking a route from the station that takes in views of the Palace and Loch. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to do that and there was no avoiding walking along the road, which soon bent right while I continued to head north along a footpath.

I had started this holiday feeling very tired through stress and lack of sleep so I had hoped that the trail would refresh me, however, I was still up and down and on this day I was feeling very tired again. My route continued gently uphill on quiet roads interspersed with paths until I reached Kinneil Wood where I had a relaxing walk downhill under the soothing pines which were much more open that would be found in a conifer plantation. It wasn’t long before I reached Kinneil House, beside which is the cottage used by James Watt while developing the steam engine. The broad drive brought me out of the estate and onto a road on the outskirts of Bo’ness where a steady descent brought me to Kinneil Foreshore Nature Reserve and soon I reached the coast, on the Firth of Forth. I had started the John Muir Way on the west coast of Scotland, beside the Clyde estuary, and in four days I had crossed to the east coast of Scotland, coast to coast. However, I was only about half way along the trail, so there was still a lot of walking ahead of me as I followed the footpath through a delightful nature reserve that had surprisingly previously been a coal mining colliery. I ignored signs that said the footpath was closed, hopping over the repairs, and continued beside the coast past a noisy sawmill at Grangepans and other industrial units at Bridgeness. Later the trail took me through woodland while in the distance I had views down the River Forth towards the bridges under murky, overcast skies and across the tidal mudflats.

This walk along the shore of the Firth of Forth reminded me of four years ago when I did the Fife Coastal Path, which follows the shore on the other side of the river, though it doesn’t stick as strictly to the coast at that point as this trail was doing. As a headwind developed and Blackness Castle now dominated my view, the trail took me right to the gates of the castle before crossing beside the walls to continue along the shore around Blackness Bay and into Wester Shore Wood. After crossing Midhope Burn I was diverted away from the coast to climb around the very grand Hopetoun House. At this point in the walk I was feeling particularly weary from the long miles I had already covered and after having started the day tired, so it was becoming a test of stamina just to keep going, so I was beginning to wonder whether I would be able to reach the point where I had planned to end this day and contemplated stopping early. The sight of the Forth Bridges now looking very close spurred me to keep going and soon I passed underneath the newest bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, and entered the eponymous town. After passing underneath the Forth Road Bridge I passed loads of shops and loads of tourists who seemed to be taking pictures of inconsequential buildings for no apparent reason, while the only thing that interested me was the original bridge, the Forth Bridge, which carries the railway over the Firth of Forth.

I took loads of pictures of the Forth Bridge as it mesmerised me and looked particularly striking with the dark clouds behind it, as I just gazed in awe at the impressive railway bridge. Eventually I left the crowds behind and soon entered the woodland of the Dalmeny Estate, which hid the bridges from my view. As I entered the wood it started to rain, which further spoilt my view and, although it briefly stopped while I was near Dalmeny House, it was never far away and continued when I turned inland along a country lane that took me to the busy A90 road near Cramond Bridge over the River Almond. I was now on the western edge of Edinburgh so at that point I caught a bus into the city centre to find my booked accommodation. It is astonishing how much the Forth bridges reinvigorated me so I was able to complete the walk as planned despite feeling very tired beforehand. The weather had not been great with cloud cover all day and rain from mid-afternoon, but I had enjoyed seeing the Forth bridges up close and to be reminded of my memorable walk along the Fife Coastal Path four years ago. 

John Muir Way: Longcroft to Linlithgow

Tuesday 26th August 2025

After spending the night in Stirling I caught a bus back to Longcroft, between Cumbernauld and Falkirk, where I made my way back onto the Forth & Clyde Canal to start day four of my walk along the John Muir Way. There had been a lot of canal walking on the trail the day before so I was glad, after little more than a mile, to come off the canal at Bonnybridge, dropping down to a tunnel that passes underneath before climbing gently up a hill, at first past residential homes, then industrial units and finally after crossing a railway line reaching the countryside and part of the Antonine Wall. This lesser known Roman wall briefly superseded the better known and much longer Hadrian’s Wall before being abandoned when the Romans retreated back to England. There is not much trace of this wall now, which was never as well developed as Hadrian’s Wall and consisted of a deep ditch on the northern side of a high turf wall with a timber fortification on stone foundations. The ditch is the clearest remaining sign of the wall now and I had a tremendous time exploring the area, walking down to the bottom of the ditch and gazing east and west along the impressive line of the wall. Eventually I made my way up to Rough Castle, where indentations in the ground are the foundations of a Roman fort, but you need a lot of imagination to see the area as such. I wasn’t in a hurry so I just wandered around, taking in the scenery and enjoying the sunshine until eventually I continued along the John Muir Way, which headed into lovely woodland.

The best bits of the John Muir Way were when I was on a good footpath passing through woodland and this delightful section brought me to one of the most astonishing sights in modern day Scotland: the Falkirk Wheel. This enormous piece of engineering transports boats from the Union Canal down to the Forth & Clyde Canal and lifts them back up again. I have seen pictures of it many times but it was awe-inspiring to see it in person and when it appeared before me I just stood and gazed at it for ages, unable to take in what I was seeing. Soon after I arrived, a boat passed along the upper aqueduct into the wheel and, thinking that I had to stay and watch the whole, spectacular mechanism turn, I made my way down to the basin at the bottom where I waited for wheel to turn. While I waited clouds filled the sky so that the sunshine that I had been enjoying during the morning finally disappeared, and eventually the wheel began to turn, slowly and possibly silently, certainly quieter than a nearby noisy lawnmower. Once the boat was down I climbed back up to rejoin the John Muir Way, which climbs up to the Union Canal, but doesn’t follow it into a tunnel and instead heads through gorgeous woodland on a wide straight path that was a pleasure to walk upon. All too soon I came onto a road that took me over a railway line and the canal to more lovely woodland.

I was enjoying the variety on this day’s walk, which was a marked difference to the previous day which had been very flat, but now the path took me up a hill and past Tamfourhill Wood to reach the monument to the Battle of Falkirk from the Jacobite Rebellion. It then started to rain, which I hoped would be a short shower, but it eventually became very heavy. The trail took me through the parkland of South Bantaskine Estate and back down to the Union Canal, soon branching off to reach Falkirk High railway station, on the edge of Falkirk. Soon after I reached the station it started to rain heavily and this continued while I made my way along several roads to reach Callendar Park. In the poor weather conditions I needed clear signposts indicating the route of the John Muir Way, but I did not have that in the park as if the signs refused to acknowledge the John Muir Way. While passing Callendar House the rain eased slightly, but after passing a lake it began to rain heavily again as I climbed into Callendar Wood, so I just kept my head down and hoped that I was on the right route. When I exited the wood, and the park, I crossed a road to enter a delightful wood and follow the Westquarter Burn, which was a spectacular stream, along a fabulous footpath, despite not being sure that I was on the John Muir Way. The stream went through a tunnel under the railway line with the footpath on an excitingly narrow terrace beside it, but soon I emerged beside the Union Canal where the John Muir Way was clearly signposted.

Normal service now resumed as I walked along the towpath for many miles while the weather eventually cleared and the sun came out. It was much more enjoyable walking beside the Union Canal than beside the Forth & Clyde because it was narrower and lined by thick vegetation and tall trees. While brief showers came and went I followed the canal, during a generally sunny afternoon until eventually, after almost five pleasant miles, I crossed the Avon Aqueduct and dropped down to the side of the River Avon for a lovely walk that brought me into the town of Linlithgow where this stage of the John Muir Way ends. Unfortunately the railway station was on the other side of the town so I had to walk all the way through to reach it and catch a train back to Stirling. This was a very enjoyable walk compared with my previous days on the John Muir Way as it had the added interest of plenty of woodland walking, as well as the Roman wall and the Falkirk Wheel, which I loved see being able to see for myself.