Location: Yellowcraig to North Berwick and return
Date: 19 May 2024
Length: 7 miles
Level: Easy
Fave Coffee: Steampunk.
This is one of my favourite walks, rain, hail, or shine. It is a good hike along the beach to the harbour town of North Berwick for fish and chips, coffee, ice-cream before your return journey where you can either re-trace your footsteps along the beach or follow the edge of the golf course.
To reach Yellowcraig beach you have a chance to first pass through the conservation village of Dirleton which is one of the prettiest of East Lothian’s villages. Actually, it is indeed a very pretty village but you will be hard pushed to find a village in East Lothian which isn’t pretty…Dirleton is set along the south side of the Forth on the coastal road between Gullane and North Berwick and is characterised by a large village green surrounded by a maze of pantiled houses.
Yellowcraig beach has a car park - you can either pay by phone or old-fashioned cash (£2.50 at time of writing) - and also well-kept toilets/shower block.
Start your walk by heading out of the carpark with the toilet block on your left and kids adventure playground on your right.
It’s about a half-mile walk to the beach along a pleasant track lined with seagrasses where the end of the track opens out to a spectacular view of the Island of Fidra (Feather Island in Norse-code) and the most glorious sandy beach.
Have the sea on your left and the dunes to your right and make towards
North Berwick. There’s always plenty of space to run free, chuck a frisbee, chase your dog, fly a kite … especially when the tide is out..
Carry on walking along the shoreline until you reach a small bridge, crossing a stream which flows through the North Berwick golf club towards the Firth of Forth.
Continue along the beach, where you can either skirt around the headland if the tide is particularly low, or up one of the dunes. You will then be offered the most splendid view of North Berwick and its harbour in the distance.
From here, the walk is all about exploration and discovering what North Berwick has to offer.
There are a few absolute treats which must be checked out, one of which is North Berwick Harbour, and the view out to the Bass rock.
Adjacent to the harbour is the original spot of the much loved
outdoor swimming pool which sadly shut its doors in 1995. The colourful original changing doors still remain, and the site is shared by a boat park, craft shops housed in beach huts, and the glorious Lobster hatchery!
Original changing room doors of the outdoor swimming pool
                                                                       Colourful houses of North Berwick
After exploring all the delights of North Berwick, retrace your steps back to Yellowcraigs either by the beach, or along the golf course for a different perspective.
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