Dunbar and the John Muir Country Park

This walk takes you through the little town of Dunbar and along the coast to John Muir Country Park, a large area that encompasses many different habitats. Dunbar was a traditional Scottish seaside resort and still retains a bucket-and-spade appeal, making it popular with families.

Dunbar was a prosperous and strategically important seaport from at least the 13th century. Edward II took refuge here in 1314 after his defeat at Bannockburn, before fleeing to England. The English Earl of Salisbury besieged the castle in 1338, only to be sent packing by its doughty chatelaine, ‘Black Agnes’ Dunbar. During the 19th century, most the castle was demolished and its stone recycled to built Dunbar’s Victoria Harbour, which once sheltered a fleet of up to 700 fishing boats.

The town's famous son

John Muir was born in Dunbar in 1838 and lived here for 11 years, until his family emigrated to America, settling in Wisconsin. Muir had always loved wildlife, and after he nearly lost his sight in an industrial accident (up to then he had been an ingenious inventor), he resolved to dedicate his life to protecting nature.

Muir travelled widely and explored much of the American west, particularly around Yosemite. He became a farmer and was a pioneering conservationist, campaigning vigorously for a national park in America. His ideas were eventually approved and Yosemite National Park was created. Muir continued to promote the idea of onservation and wrote a number of books including Our National Parks (1901) and The Yosemite (1912).

John Muir had fond memories of the coastline here, and particularly of some very dramatic storms. He once wrote: 'I loved to wander… along the sea-shore to gaze at the shells and seaweeds… and best of all to watch the waves in awful storms thundering on the black headlands and craggy ruins of the old Dunbar Castle…' (The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, 1913).

Turn right out of Station Road, then left down the High Street. You'll soon pass a statue of a young John Muir, which stands outside the Town House Museum and Gallery, at the corner of Silver Street and High Street. 

Further down the High Street, pass John Muir’s Birthplace on the left-hand side (it also houses the tourist information centre). At the end of the High Street, as you reach Lauderdale House – a grand former barracks where Muir’s father, an army recruiting sergeant, was based – turn right and walk down Victoria Street to the harbour. Detour over the harbour entrance via a swing bridge to see the historic Battery, a round fort whose cannon guarded the harbour from the late 18th century until the 1930s. 

Retrace your steps and walk along the quayside with the harbour on your right, passing the RNLI lifeboat station on your left. The remnants of the old castle – now haunted by hundreds of kittiwakes which breed here in spring – are in front of you. At the end of the quay, turn left and walk uphill to the modern Leisure Pool. Keeping it on your left, turn right at the public toilets. Walk past the Sea Cadet centre, turn right between a pair of stone obelisks and bear left down four flights of steps, signposted ‘John Muir Way’. This coast-to-coast walking trail, opened in April 2014, stretches all the way from Muir’s home town to Helensburgh, on the Firth of Clyde.

Continue down a flight of steps on the left-hand side, which leads towards a golf course. Walk past the clubhouse on the left. Immediately below the clubhouse, a short section of the path has crumbled due to erosion and is barred while repairs are being made. If it’s still there when you read this, you can either squeeze round the end of the fence and cautiously carry on; bypass this part of the track at low tide by walking along the beach; or walk uphill to the clubhouse, then bear right to descend again by a grassy track and turn left to walk round the shore on the edge of the golf course. When you reach the holiday chalets there’s a lovely sandy beach on your right, and a metal bridge – known as the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ – leads to the tidal sands of Belhaven Bay.

At the end turn left, then cross the wooden footbridge on the right. Once you're over the bridge, turn right and then left, following the track that hugs the wall. The sands of Belhaven Bay are now on your right. Your way now takes you into the woods or you can follow the shoreline along the dunes, as you prefer. In the summer you might spot skylarks or lapwings in the dunes. During the winter keep an eye out for birds such as wigeon, bar-tailed godwit and whooper swan.

Walk to the end of the wood, then retrace your steps to cross the small footbridge again. Turn left, walk back along the track by the pool and then turn left. After a few paces, turn right to walk along Back Road, a long straight residential street. At the end of the street turn right, walk past the leisure centre again and back along the High Street to your starting place.