This there-and-back route totals 12.4km. You can cycle as far as you’d like and turn around anytime. You can hire a bicycle from Cycle Scotland,Tartan Bike Hire, or Leith Cycle Co. If you have your own bike, you can also find parking with Parkopedia. You can find out more about taking your bike on public transportation here.
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Route overview
Harrison Park East and West has been a Green Flag Park since 2007. This means the park is managed in environmentally sustainable ways and is of good quality. A unique aspect of the park is that it is situated beside the Union Canal, which has a towpath. Additionally, you’ll find flower bedding displays, bat and bird boxes, wildflower meadows, and various wildlife.
The Union Canal. Credit: Visit Scotland, Kenny Lam.
Head towards the river and turn right onto National Cycle Route 75.
Part 1 of the Edinburgh Short Cycle with Map
After about 1.6km, turn slightly right at the Allan Park Footbridge, then left to ride over the bridge. At the end of the pathway, turn left onto Craiglockhart Road North, then left again onto Colinton Road, turn right just after the courts, then left towards the East Craiglockhart Hill Local Nature Reserve.
Leaving the reserve, retrace your ride to the Footbridge and continue over the bridge. Continue onto Allan Park Crescent, National Cycle Route 75, and follow the curve of the road to the left, then turn left onto Slateford Road. Ride over the bridge, then turn left onto the Water of Leith Walkway.
Part 2 of the Edinburgh Short Cycle with Map
Easter Craiglockhart Hill Nature Reserve has all the habitats and features you’d expect from a nature reserve, including marshes and ponds with flowers and birds, such as swans, woodland including sycamore, elm, and ash planted over 200 years ago amongst beautiful English Bluebells and of course birdlife, including owls in the evening. This nature reserve is found in an area sometimes called Happy Valley, which was formed by glaciers under the volcanic cliffs of the Craiglockhart Hills many years ago. It earned the nickname Happy Valley from the range of family activities enjoyed here, including boating, ice skating, an amusement park, and a dancehall.
Easter Craiglockhart Hill. Credit: Friends of East Craiglockhart Hill
Continue along this walkway to pass the Craiglockhart Grotto. Cross over the next bridge you see on your right, then turn left.
Part 3 of the Edinburgh Short Cycle with Map
Craiglockhart Grotto, built in 1750, was designed for ladies of the men who went hunting in the area. You can catch sight of a tranquil view of the little waterfall through the window. One would imagine the ladies using this waiting time to gossip, embroider or read.
Craiglockhart Grotto. Credit: Water of Leith Conservation Trust, Bryce Photos
Continue for about 1.1km until you reach the Colinton Station and Tunnel.
Part 4 of the Edinburgh Short Cycle with Map
Colinton Station and Tunnel have a little hidden secret if you simply pass by. The tunnel became derelict after its disuse. Since then, it has been repurposed into somewhat of an art piece. Along the walls of the tunnel, you’ll find some tasteful graffiti and murals and the words of a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson titled “From a Railway Carriage.” The poem reads as follows:
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart run away in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!
Part of Colinton-Tunnel. Credit: ASD Lighting
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Resources:
If you enjoyed this route, see our Markets and Parks Cycle
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