Balmedie: Dunes, Beach and Coastal History

Balmedie combines a beach and dunes with trails in the Country Park and historic traces along the coast. The landscape and the specific activities offer several different ways to plan your trip.

Beach and Dunes

The dunes of Balmedie are part of a 15-mile dune system of local and national importance. The beach is particularly long and wide; clean, golden sand is bordered by grassy dunes. The beach and dune landscape thus offer two distinct aspects of the coast.

Balmedie Beach received the Keep Scotland Beautiful Seaside Award for cleanliness, the quality of its facilities and good management.

Trails in the Country Park and Village

There are five recommended routes in Balmedie Country Park. A 1,700-metre-long boardwalk provides access from the main car park to a dune landscape overlooking Balmedie Beach.

The village also has a treasure hunt trail with six hidden clues; the search takes about an hour. It differs from the park routes in that it involves a search around the village and has an approximate time estimate. This can be useful if you want to include an activity with a clearly defined scope in your plans.

Historic Traces Along the Coast

A historic ice house still stands in the dunes; four wartime pillboxes remain on the beach. The ice house and the pillboxes are different kinds of built evidence of Balmedie's past.

The former work carried out along the coast is also part of the village's history: salmon fishing was a common occupation here in the 19th and 20th centuries. Balmedie's past therefore encompasses both surviving structures and an activity that was widespread along this coast for an extended period.

More Activities and Visitor Information

There are play areas in Balmedie Country Park. In Balmedie, Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, has two championship golf courses. Cyclists and walkers can use routes connecting Balmedie with nearby coastal villages.

The routes can be distinguished by their destinations: the five recommended routes are in the Country Park, while other routes connect Balmedie with coastal villages. When planning, you can weigh up park trails and connections to the wider coastal region.

A post by Aberdeenshire Council dated 7 July 2026 describes the Sand Bothy as an information resource about Balmedie Country Park, its flora and fauna, and the surrounding area.

Balmedie Beach Wheelchairs offers a range of beach wheelchairs for free hire to people with limited mobility or disabilities that prevent them from enjoying the beach. The service is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 noon to 3 pm, April through October. Check these hours before you arrive.

Discover more destinations: Mintlaw, Plaidy, Monymusk, Inverallochy, Ellon, New Deer, Fordyce, Macduff

For the broader travel overview: Aberdeenshire.