The course is set on the grounds of Kinneil Estate, which is also home to the historic Kinneil House. Bo'ness (short for Borrowstounness) is a town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The hillclimb venue was established at a time when organised motorsport in Scotland was in its infancy, and the Kinneil Estate provided a natural gradient suitable for timed climbing events.
There were early plans to develop a full racing circuit on the same land, effectively turning Kinneil into a broader motorsport complex, but those plans were never realised.
The first events at Bo'ness were held in 1932 and 1933, organised by the West Lothian Motor Cycle Club for motorcycles only. The first meeting open to both cars and motorcycles was jointly organised by the West Lothian Motor Cycle Club, the Scottish Sporting Car Club, and Bo'ness Town Council.
The course layout evolved considerably over its active years. From 1932 to 1935, it consisted of a straight road running from the Courtyard section. In 1936, the start line was moved downhill so that drivers had to navigate Old Paddock bend and the Courtyard entrance. The following year the start moved further still, introducing Crawyett bend, and at the same time a fast right-left section known as the Snake was added to the upper portion of the course. A 1947 report in Motor Sport noted the course had been lengthened to an 880-yard layout.
On 17 May 1947, Bo'ness hosted the opening round of the inaugural British Hill Climb Championship. The round was won by George Abecassis, who went on to finish second in that first championship to Raymond Mays. The other four rounds of that year were held at Bouley Bay, Craigantlet, Prescott, and Shelsley Walsh — all venues that have continued as championship fixtures, unlike Bo'ness.
On the evening of 29 June 1953, the BBC staged a special televised event at Bo'ness in an England versus Scotland format. Competitors ran in matched pairs with two points awarded for a win and three if a class record was broken. The final score was England 26, Scotland 16. Ken Wharton broke the absolute hill record that evening with a time of 33.61 seconds, though the organisers did not accept these as official times given the special nature of the event.
The Scottish Sporting Car Club organised events at Bo'ness until falling driver and spectator numbers led them to discontinue after the 1954 season. The Lothian Car Club revived the venue in 1959 but was forced to abandon it after the June 1966 meeting when Bo'ness Town Council sold the upper section of the course to a housing developer. Much of the track, including the Snake Bend section, now lies beneath a residential estate, though a small brick enclosure built to protect timing equipment at the finish line remains visible alongside Provost Road.
The Lothian Car Club moved to Doune and has continued running hillclimb events there for more than fifty years.
In 2007, a Revival Club was formed with the aim of returning speed hillclimbing to the Bo'ness site. Revival meetings have been held annually since 2008, open to classic and historic vehicles, keeping the venue's motorsport heritage alive in a commemorative form.
As Scotland's first purpose-built motorsport facility, Bo'ness holds an important place in the country's racing history. Its role in the inaugural British Hill Climb Championship of 1947 links it directly to the founding of organised hillclimbing competition in Britain. The enduring revival meetings reflect continued enthusiasm for the venue's history despite the physical loss of much of the original course.