John Muir Way

Not to be confused with John Muir Trail in the Sierras Nevadas, part of the Pacific Crest Trail

The John Muir Way is a 130 mile / 215 km hiking trail across the Central Belt of Scotland, from Dunbar to Helensburgh. It's named for the naturalist John Muir (1838-1914), who was born in Dunbar and emigrated from the Clyde to the United States, where he founded the US National Parks system. The trail can also be pedalled on a bike, following a slightly different route for some sections.

Prepare

John Muir Way marker

This is an easy lowland route that's seldom far from town, and much of it (or its variants) is suitable for bikes. Minimum fitness is needed. You never have to camp, but should book accommodation ahead. You can do the route any time of year but perhaps should avoid August, as the Edinburgh Festival books up not just the city but all accommodation within a 50-mile radius. Those living in the Central Belt might choose to walk it as a series of Sunday afternoon there-and-back day trips, and their only problem will be finding parking among hundreds of like-minded city dwellers.

John Muir Trust is the official guide to the way, and describes it west to east, Helensburgh to Dunbar. On tougher trails the advantage of that is to have the sun and prevailing weather at your back, but there's no such need on this genteel stroll, and on this page it's described east to west. Another good online guide is posted by Walk Highlands. Waymarking of the trail is spasmodic: its logo is a purple image of John Muir in his later years, bearded beneath a ranger hat, and scanning the landscape as if to size up an approaching bear.

As those guides stress, you also need a map. Best are the Ordnance Survey Landranger series at 1:50,000:

• OS 75 Berwick covers the Northumberland coast from Beadnell to the Scottish border, so you only need it if arriving by the North Coast Trail.
• OS 67 Dunbar covers the Berwickshire coast from the border through Dunbar to North Berwick, plus the Southern Upland Way from Longformacus.
• OS 66 Edinburgh covers the East Lothian coast through Gullane and Musselburgh across the city to its west edge.
• OS 65 Falkirk covers West Lothian from the Forth bridges through Linlithgow and Falkirk.
• OS 64 Glasgow covers the Clyde and Kelvin catchments through Glasgow and Milngavie almost to Loch Lomond.
• OS 63 Largs is centered on Ayrshire south of the Clyde, but covers the last stretch into Helensburgh.

You can also download maps from the official website, covering the Dunbar - Helensburgh route. Print these or save them (with a backup on a second device) as you may not have a signal on the whole route. Rucksack Readers publish a guidebook with some map extracts; there is also a 1:75,000 map of the way but it is hard to find.

Get in

All the towns marked on the map have good public transport and visitor amenities, and Edinburgh and Glasgow are international hubs.

Walk

Berwickshire: the route originally began at Cockburnspath on the coast, but in 2014 this first part was re-designated, and JMW thereby lost its most scenic section. It's described here as a prelude to the main hike and as a link to other long-distance trails.

• 1 Berwick-upon-Tweed is just south of the Scottish border. It retains its city walls, erected in Elizabethan times when the Scots allied with France and seemed likely to attack. The North Sea Trail joins the Berwickshire Coastal Path, having traversed Northumberland with a side-trail to Lindisfarne. From Berwick follow the coast along the clifftops: the Scottish border is a humble stile over a field wall.
• 2 Eyemouth is the largest of the fishing villages along the rugged coast. St Abbs three miles north is the prettiest, and seabirds wheel over St Abbs Head.
• Cockburnspath the original start point is the eastern terminus of the Southern Upland Way, stretching to the west coast near Stranraer. The terrain becomes lower-lying. Ahead, Torness Power Station looks like an obstacle but a path leads through it. The John Muir Link path runs from here to Dunbar, following the coast.

East Lothian is a Costa Golf, with sand dunes, pine woods and crumbling castles.

Hike across Scotland via the Bridge to Nowhere

• 3 Dunbar is the fishing port where John Muir grew up before moving to the US. The coast and JMW now trend west. "The Bridge to Nowhere" crosses a creek and at high tide its approaches are submerged, so it's an odd sight. The recommended walking route then swings inland towards charming East Linton then north to North Berwick, with a cycle route via Whitekirk. At low tide you can stay on the shore and splosh across the outflow of the River Tyne, taking in Tantallon Castle, but there are some ratty sections where you have to join the busy A198.
• 4 North Berwick is a harbour 15 miles / 24 km from Dunbar. Volcanoes threw up North Berwick Law the crag behind town, the Bass Rock, and a chain of islets in the Firth of Forth. JMW is an obvious path along the coast through Yellowcraigs into Gullane.
• 5 Gullane is set among sand dunes and golf courses, but the main attraction three miles south is the Museum of Flight. Continue west via Aberlady, a bird reserve; you can't short-cut across this bay as it's muddy. The scenery becomes urban and post-industrial through Seton Sands and Cockenzie to Prestonpans, scene of Bonnie Prince Charlie's first victory in 1745. This is 16.5 miles / 26.5 km from North Berwick.
• 6 Musselburgh is a commuter town just east of Edinburgh. It would be a foolhardy diner who sampled the local mussels nowadays, the thing to do here is go to the races (year-round) in any spare moments between playing golf.
• 7 Edinburgh, 10 miles / 16 km from Prestonpans, is the must-see capital of Scotland and needs several days to explore. A leash of possible routes pass through it. You could stay on the coast through Portbello, Leith, Muirhouse and Silverknowes to Cramond: this is grubby and industrial for the most part but improves at Silverknowes. (Or from Leith you could follow the Water of Leith footpath up to Dean village or to the canal aqueduct at Slateford.) The recommended route is via an old railway track bed, the "Innocent Railway" (the name a PR stunt to disguise how many bodies it mangled). This passes charming Duddingston village and Arthur's seat, through a tunnel to disgorge you in St Leonards district. Head west to cross the Meadows, with the castle and Old Town in view a mile north. From Tollcross join the Union Canal as far as the Water of Leith, follow this river downstream to Balgreen, then zig and zag northwest eventually onto A90. (This is the lowest crossing point on the River Almond, so if you go via Cramond you have to loop inland a couple of miles.) JMW follows this river down to the coast then west towards South Queensferry. An alternative is to stay on the Union Canal, which takes a great loop across West Lothian towards Linlithgow.

West Lothian is post-industrial, but both the coastal and canal routes command good views.

• 8 South Queensferry is 15.5 miles / 25 km from central Edinburgh. It's dominated by its bridges: the iconic railway bridge and two roads. You can walk across the Forth Road Bridge and pick up the Fife coastal trail; no pedestrians are allowed on the new road bridge, the Queen's Crossing. JMW continues west to Blackness Castle and Bo'ness (for the heritage railway) then inland to Linlithgow. Alternatively, cut inland at Blackness to take in the 17th century House of the Binns.
• 9 Linlithgow is 14 miles / 22.5 km from South Queensferry, and its main sight is the ruined palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. Join the Union Canal, navigable throughout and with a good towpath, which sweeps across the River Avon valley by a grand aqueduct. At Polmont the refinery chimneys of Grangemouth are in view. Near Falkirk the recommended route swings north but this misses a highlight, the spooky 2088 ft / 636 m canal tunnel.
• 10 Falkirk, 8.5 miles / 13.5 km from Linlithgow, is a market town with a few mementoes of the Roman Antonine Wall. 2½ miles west of town, the Union Canal ends at the ingenious Falkirk Wheel, which lifts boats down into the Forth and Clyde Canal without spilling a drop. The recommended route sways north then south of this canal but you may just as well stay on it west, crossing the watershed to begin the descent towards Glasgow and the Clyde.

The canal tunnel at Falkirk

• Kilsyth, 13 miles / 21 km from Falkirk, has the best sections of the Antonine Wall, which was never much more than an earthwork.

Clydeside is the industrial area surrounding Glasgow, where the Clyde is not navigable but it powered mills for textiles and metal-bashing.

• 11 Kirkintilloch has a surprising history of ship-building: the "Clyde Puffers" were originally canal boats, and were built here and at other points along the canal. You now branch north along the River Kelvin to Milton of Campsie, then on a railway track bed to Lennoxtown at the foot of the Campsie Fells and to Strathblane, 13 miles / 21 km from Kilsyth. Staying on the canal brings you to Glasgow.
• 12 Glasgow city centre is reached by a spur canal from Wyndford to Cowcaddens, while the main canal descends to Dumbarton. It's a splendid Victorian metropolis and deserves at least a couple of days sight-seeing.
• 13 Milngavie is 4 miles off JMW but is a transport head and has far more amenities than Strathblane. It's the start of the West Highland Way (WHW), 96 miles / 154 km to Fort William, so follow this north to rejoin JMW. Bikes thereafter should follow WHW to Dumgoyne and Gartness, while hikers on JMW strike out across the hills to Balloch.
• 14 Balloch is 18.5 miles / 30 km from Strathblane. It's an industrial town at the south end of Loch Lomond: ferries and cruises sail from here. The best of the loch is further up its east bank, and WHW goes that way, while the last leg of JMW crosses Bannacra into Helensburgh.
• 15 Helensburgh is 9 miles / 14.5 km from Balloch. It's a seaside town with several notable buildings, some by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and views over the Firth of Clyde and "Argyll Alps". JMW goes past the door of The Hill House, and the official start/end is by the pier at the bottom of Colquhoun Street. No transatlantic ships to be seen here, as the Clyde estuary is shallow and modern boats grew faster than its channel could be expanded. So you'll have to make do with a distant view of cruise liners at Greenock on the far bank, and the upturned hull of a wrecked sugar freighter.

Stay safe

Forth Bridge above South Queensferry

This is lowland terrain in a well-populated region, so natural hazards are minimal, and there is a mobile signal throughout. The main risk is from traffic, on sections where you have to use roads with no sidewalk.

Go next

• Fife Coastal Path follows the north shore of the Firth of Forth from its tidal limit at Alloa east through delightful Culross to the Forth bridges, then out to Kirkcaldy, the picturesque East Neuk and St Andrews.
• The West Highland Way starts from Milngavie and runs to Fort William: the toughest section is not its heights, but the rough scree along Loch Lomond. Once accomplished, obviously the next thing you'll want to do is climb Ben Nevis, then set out on the Great Glen Way via Loch Ness to Inverness.
• The Pennine Way runs from Edale in the Peak District via the Pennine hills to the Tyne Valley. There it joins the Hadrian's Wall path for 20 miles (easily the best part of the Wall) then strikes north through conifer forests. The last section is an arduous slog along the border ridge of the Cheviots to descent to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland. From there you could follow St Cuthbert's Way to the coast and North Sea Trail, or pick your own way through quiet lanes to Kelso then onto the Southern Upland Way.
• The Southern Upland Way runs from Portpatrick near Stranraer to the east coast at Cockburnspath. Its western parts are actually tougher than the other trails, with long slow boggy sections where you'll need to wild-camp.