A big beefy park in the heart of Dunbar, Balaclava’s unique feature is its dark black running track, part of the training grounds for the 1954 British Empire Games (which youngsters will just have to trust was the biggest international sports thing after the Olympics once upon a time).

Aside from the running track, there’s a regular baseball field, a simple play area for toddlers, washroom facilities and an off-leash dog area in the middle. 

Plenty of amenities for plenty of purposes — but the park is so vast and so flat, with so little trees, it’s not particularly a place to explore. And the dog park being right in the middle of the park with minimal separation can create some tension. 

Your mileage will vary, mostly based on how many miles you like running.