{{coord, 55, 53, 9.73, N, 3, 20, 23.31, W, display=title Water of leith walkway-deanhaugh path sign

The

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britto ...

Walkway is a public footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the small river of the same name through

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, from

Balerno Balerno (; gd, Baile Àirneach, IPA: �paleˈɛːɾʲnəx Scots: Balerno or Balernie) is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre, next to Currie and then Juniper Green. Traditionally in the cou ...

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

. The concept of a public path first appeared in 1949, but the necessary construction work was not begun until after 1973. Nowadays, it provides access to many interesting sights, like the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...

and the

Dean Gallery Modern Two, formerly the Dean Gallery, in Edinburgh, is one of the two buildings housing the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, one of Scotland's national art galleries. It is operated by the National Galleries of Scotland. Since its op ...

Walking and cycling the path

The path starts next to Balerno High School and runs 12.25 miles (19.6 kilometres) to

. The path runs downhill, but the incline is so slight that it is barely perceptible. Approximately half a mile of the route is on roads; for the remainder the path runs alongside the

, and away from traffic. The section from Balerno to Slateford utilises the dismantled Balerno railway line The path surface is a mixture of tarmac, compressed grit and compressed earth. The surface is uniformly good with very few muddy patches or potholes. The route is well used by both pedestrians and cyclists. The path is fairly well signposted, but there are one or two places in Edinburgh where the path meets a road and it is necessary to hunt around for its continuation. Some signposts have been vandalised or pointed in the wrong direction. The path passes through the attractive

Dean Village Dean Village (from ''dene'', meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the ...

area of Edinburgh and ends in the docks at Leith. Walkers can return to Balerno by catching a bus to the centre of Edinburgh from Ocean Terminal, and then the 44 bus to Balerno. For cyclists the easiest way to return to Balerno is to cycle back, or use the train from central Edinburgh to

Curriehill railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Curriehill-230608.jpg , caption = View from footbridge at Curriehill railway station, looking towards Edinburgh , borough = Currie, Edinb ...

. The Water of Leith is also a good fishing spot due to the concerted effort to clean up the water. You can expect to catch wild brown trout (''Salmo trutta m. fario'') and grayling (''Thymallus thymallus'') with the odd pike (''Esox lucius'') lurking nearby. Grayling only swim in clean water so this is a good advertisement for the Water of Leith itself.

External links

Map
of pathway.

Tourist attractions in Edinburgh Leith Footpaths in Scotland Water of Leith
Water of Leith Millennium Bid document - successfully allowed some sections to be upgraded for 2000