John Muir Way Voyage Tips and guide

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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.

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.

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Map of John Muir Way

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

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.

• 55.769167-2.00251 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 farm wall.
• 55.869444-2.0905562 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.

• 55.998333-2.5227783 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 route then swings inland, but at low tide you can stay on the shore and splosh across the outflow of the River Tyne. All routes then trend north via Whitekirk and Tantallon Castle to North Berwick, but there are some ratty sections where you have to join the busy A198.
• 56.058-2.7174 North Berwick is a small harbour. 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.
• 56.0371-2.82655 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.
• 55.941944-3.0541676 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.
• 55.953333-3.1891677 Edinburgh 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 zig and zag northwest eventually onto A90 (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 the river bank down to the coast then west towards South Queensferry. An alternative from Tollcross is simply to follow 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.

• 55.9875-3.48 South Queensferry is 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. Continue west to Blackness Castle then JMW cuts inland to Linlithgow, with a side trail to 17th century House of the Binns.
• 55.975278-3.6105569 Linlithgow has a 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.
• 56.000556-3.78444410 Falkirk is reached by a spooky 2088 ft / 636 m canal tunnel. It's 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. Continue west on this canal, which soon crosses the watershed to begin its descent towards Glasgow and the Clyde.

• Kilsyth has the best-preserved 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.

• 55.935833-4.15472211 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. Your task is now to join the Kelvin Walkway up to Milngavie: staying on the canal brings you into Glasgow via Bishopbriggs and Wyndford to Kelvinside where you join the river upstream. (The canal continues west to reach the Clyde at Dunfermline.) You can cut off a big loop by zigging and zagging through lanes from Bishopbriggs to the Kelvin.
• 55.861111-4.2512 Glasgow city centre is reached by a spur canal from Wyndford to Cowcaddens. It's a splendid Victorian metropolis and deserves at least a couple of days sight-seeing.
• 55.941667-4.31944413 Milngavie is a commuter town. It's the start of the West Highland Way (WHW), 96 miles / 154 km to Fort William. Bikes should follow WHW to Dumgoyne and Gartness, while hikers on JMW strike out across the hills via Strathblane to Balloch.
• 56.002-4.5814 Balloch is 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 heads north that way, while the last leg of JMW crosses Bannacra into Helensburgh.
• 56.00701-4.731815 Helensburgh is a seaside town with several notable buildings, some by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and views over the Firth of Clyde and "Argyll Alps". The way goes past the door of the Hill House, which has a cafe. The official start/end is by the pier at the bottom of Colquhoun Street. You are unlikely to see any passenger ships bound for America today, but there are often cruise liners tied up at Greenock on the south side of the Clyde.

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.

• 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.