Forest bathing at Colinton Dell

Colinton Dell is a steep wooded gorge where the Water of Leith runs below Colinton village, joined downstream by Craiglockhart Dell. The river once powered a string of mills, making paper for Bank of Scotland notes and grinding oats, and the old weirs are still there. The Balerno branch railway that served them closed in 1967 and is now a walking and cycling path, which passes through the Colinton Tunnel with its Robert Louis Stevenson mural.

A good start is Slateford station: follow the Union Canal towpath, then drop down into the dell and walk upstream with the river below you. The railway path is flat and wide but shared with bikes; the woodland paths down in the dell are narrower, quieter and closer to the water, and that is where to slow down. Steps lead up into Colinton village, where Spylaw Park makes a short detour. Parts of the dell are muddy, and landslips have closed some paths in the past, so be ready for a diversion.