Forest bathing in West Lothian

West Lothian's woodland is largely in its country parks. Beecraigs Country Park, in the Bathgate Hills above Linlithgow, is mainly conifer plantation around a loch, with a deer herd and a visitor centre. Almondell and Calderwood Country Park near East Calder follows the River Almond through a steep wooded valley of beech and oak, with a visitor centre in the old stable block. Polkemmet Country Park at Whitburn has mature mixed woodland from the old estate around the golf course and river. Smaller woods run along the Union Canal and the River Avon on the Falkirk boundary.

A session takes two to three hours with a handful of people, with only a few hundred metres of walking and time to talk at the end. Almondell's valley is sheltered in winter and Beecraigs' pines keep off the rain. Each guide's profile shows dates, venues and prices.

Almondell is the gentle first visit: free car parks, a visitor centre and a level riverside path, with Kirknewton and Livingston stations a few miles away. Beecraigs has a visitor centre with a cafe and pay car parks.