Walking in Scotland

The best way to see and enjoy Scotland’s magnificent countryside, history, architecture, beaches, panoramic views, castles and wildlife, is on foot. The country is laced with paths, long and short. There is even a legal right to wander anywhere you choose in the countryside, if you want to leave the paths and explore, as long as you do so responsibly. There is an Outdoor Access Code that details the commonsense requirements. So where are these great walks? How accessible are they? Importantly, do you need to be an Olympian to enjoy them!?

Beach, Cliffs and Birds

Where do you begin? The possibilities are huge and nowhere in Scotland is far from interesting and enjoyable places to walk. Coastal walking is popular and very easily accessible. Scotland’s convoluted indented coastline is replete with beaches, coves, cliffs, bays and sea lochs and offers many beautiful walks. One great walk is at Sandwood Bay in the far north west. It offers a magnificent wild stretch of sand between rocky cliffs and sea stacks pounded constantly by the Atlantic Ocean.

Right across the country on the east coast the Moray Firth is a huge sea inlet where dolphins may be seen. On the Moray Firth a few hours or even a whole day can be spent walking along the curving stretch of sand and shingle of Burghead Bay between Burghead and Findhorn. If you are looking to do some Scottish bird spotting, perhaps you might enjoy a wander around Findhorn Bay, an enclosed tidal estuary which is rich with birdlife including Dipper, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper. On the Isle of Skye there are many spectacular cliff walks in places such as Moonen Bay in the far west of the island and South Duirinish where you can view the three pointed sea stacks known as MacLeod’s Maidens.

Those with an interest in history can spend a whole day, if they wish, walking the 12 mile/19km long Wade’s Road over the Corrieyairick Pass between Garva in Strathspey and Fort Augustus in the Great Glen. This was built by General Wade in the 1720s as a military road and was part of the measures put in place to suppress Jacobite rebels in the Highlands. The road is now a rough track, rising to over 750 metres/2500 feet, and runs through wonderfully wild and remote country. A much gentler historical walk at the other end of the Great Glen is the stroll along the western stretch of the Caledonian Canal from Banavie just outside Fort William. The canal was built between 1803 and 1822 by the famous Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford and for the first time meant that boats could go from the west to the east coast without undertaking the long journey round the notoriously stormy north coast. At Banavie is Neptune’s Staircase, an impressive chain of eight locks that raise the water level of the canal 64 feet (19 metres) in just 550 yards (500 metres). Towering over this end of the canal is the great bulk of Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain. Most of the historic sites are linked to ancient clans and families. Now thanks to the work of organisations such as Ancestral Scotland, those with Scottish ancestry can visit the lands and homes of their forebears and walk the fields, walks and moors once trod by them. These are just a mere sample of the many historical walks in Scotland. For more, please go to VisitScotland’s walking section.

An Alternative View

For those looking to capture a bird’s eye view of Scotland, there are many to be had that don’t involve oxygen masks! Ben Nevis itself can be climbed from Fort William. This is admittedly a strenuous and stony climb, but it is worth the walk. The views from the summit plateau are unbelievable with mountains rippling away to the horizon in every direction.

Apart from Ben Nevis, there are 284 other summits over 3,000 feet (914 metres) high in Scotland. These are known as the Munros, after Sir Hugh Munro who first listed them all back in 1891, and many walkers set out to climb them all.

Thankfully, you don’t have to climb to the summits to enjoy walking in the hills. There are hundreds of lower hills with fine scenery. Indeed, the most beautiful and interesting places are often the corries and glens below the summits. In the Galloway Hills in south-west Scotland Glen Trool is a lovely valley with a long loch at its heart, its shores edged with woodland. The 6 mile (10km) circuit of the loch on a well signed path is perhaps the best walk in the whole district and gives good views of the surrounding heather clad hills. The walk also passes the Bruce’s Stone, a huge block of granite commemorating a battle in 1307 when the famous Scottish King Robert the Bruce defeated the English army in Glen Trool. Further east in the Southern Uplands a short walk in Moffat Dale leads to the magnificent Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall where the Tail Burn crashes around 300 feet (100 metres) down a narrow ravine. This is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Scotland and is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The countryside of Scotland is full of places like these, just waiting for walkers to come and explore them.

Going For A Longer Stretch

Amongst the thousands of miles of footpaths Scotland has four that are official long distance, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage and all well maintained and signposted. The longest is the 340 kilometre Southern Upland Way which stretches from the Irish Sea to the North Sea right across southern Scotland visiting en route purple heather moors, the lovely River Tweed, the ruins of Melrose Abbey, the lead mines of Wanlockhead and the whole diversity of the Galloway and Borders regions, a wonderful mix of lovely countryside, wildlife and history.

The most popular long distance path is the 152 kilometre West Highland Way which runs from the outskirts of Glasgow along the shores of Loch Lomond, across Rannoch Moor and into the heart of the Highlands to finish below Ben Nevis, a walk from gentle lowland countryside to rugged Highland hills. Just north of Ben Nevis a huge gash splits the Highlands in two. This is the Great Glen, a low chain of lochs and rivers along which the 117 kilometre Great Glen Way stretches from Fort William to Inverness. This gentle path runs along the Caledonian Canal towpath, often in woodland, and along the length of the most famous body of water in Scotland, Loch Ness.

Further east the 135 kilometre Speyside Way follows the beautiful river Spey from its mouth on the beaches of the north east coast into the heart of the Cairngorm mountains, passing through rich farmland, wooded foothills and open moors and close to many whisky distilleries on the way as it runs through the midst of Malt Whisky Country. If a 135 kilometre walk is possibly a tad too far, you can choose shorter sections that can take anything from a few pleasant hours to a few days.

Scotland’s Walking Tall

Walking is a major part of the Scottish tourist industry and is now worth £438 million a year, supporting thousands of jobs. Local communities all over Scotland are developing facilities for walkers. One fine example is the 6.2 mile (10km) Wildcat Trail around the village of Newtonmore in Strathspey in the Cairngorms National Park. This lovely walk encompasses riverside, forest and moorland. There’s a Wildcat Walking Centre in Newtonmore where you can find information on the trail and collect a certificate after completing it (always a plus!). The Wildcat Trail is popular with visitors and locals and over 5000 people walk it every year.

Walking is good news for the health of Scots and tourists alike. Consequently the Scottish Executive has launched a programme called Paths for All, to raise awareness of the amazing health benefits. For more information on the initiative, visit www.pathsforall.org.uk.

The real incentive for all, however, must be the number of stunning, beautiful walks that freely give tourists access to our glorious Scottish countryside, wildlife and history.