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.