Forest bathing at Almondell and Calderwood Country Park

This country park joins two neighbouring estates in the valley of the River Almond, between Broxburn and East Calder. Almondell is the riverside estate where Henry Erskine built his house in the 1790s; the house is long gone, but the Nasmyth Bridge, the 1820 aqueduct carrying the Union Canal feeder over the river, and the nine-arched Camps Viaduct still stand among the trees. Calderwood, on a plateau between the Linhouse and Murieston Waters, is the largest ancient woodland in West Lothian and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, mainly oak, ash, birch, hazel and wild cherry.

The North Car Park is closest to the visitor centre and the busier riverside paths at Almondell. For Calderwood, use the Mid Calder car park: it is undeveloped natural woodland, much quieter, with bluebells in spring and fungi in autumn. Roe deer, herons and woodpeckers are all about. Riverside paths are mostly good; Calderwood paths are rougher and muddy in wet weather.