Best walks to or from Falkirk

Falkirk Grahamston Station to Polmont Station

A good route through pedestrianised streets and the delightful old woodlands of Callendar Wood on well-made paths, then a twisty maze of little paths with steps through the Hallglen Estate, before a calm, tarmac towpath along the Union Canal. It finishes on the busy, noisy Station Road into Polmont; some steps and with likely step-free alternatives in Hallglen. Follows the Union Canal towpath. Callendar Wood is an attractive area of old woodland.

7km.

Several flights of stone steps through the Hallglen Estate. At the Redding Industrial Estate the towpath briefly becomes a road open to cars. The turning off the towpath into Polmont is easy to miss. Station Road into Polmont is busy and noisy.

Lunch: Lots of cafes and shops in Falkirk; a small shopping centre with a supermarket in Polmont.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Larbert Station to Falkirk Grahamston Station

A surprisingly green and varied short walk for an apparently urban route, making good use of green spaces including a pleasant stretch of the River Carron, a cemetery, woodland and a short section of the Forth and Clyde Canal and with urban road walking at each end. Riverside paths can be muddy. Includes a short stretch of the Forth and Clyde Canal towpath, passing the Rosebank Distillery.

Easy: 5km, moderate ascents.

The descent to the riverside path from the cemetery is muddy and easy to miss; a surfaced parallel path through the park above the river is a mud-free alternative. Care needed crossing the busy A9 to reach the canal towpath, and passing through the Falkirk Council yard.

Lunch: Good facilities at both ends.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route