Long-distance footpaths in Scotland explained

This page lists long-distance footpaths in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage have defined such paths as meaning a route that is at least 32km (20miles) long and primarily off-road, or on quieter roads and tracks.^[1] This definition is consistent with that of the British Long Distance Walkers Association.^[2]

Classification

Under Scots law the public has a right to responsible access to most land in Scotland, in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and access rights for new routes do not generally require to be negotiated. Many named walks have therefore been developed by local authorities, tourist organisations and guidebook authors.^[3] There is thus no single register or list of such paths, however some classifications have been developed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH):

• Scotland's Great Trails

these are routes judged as meeting standards defined by Scottish Natural Heritage. There are 29 such routes, offering over 3000km (2,000miles) of trails in total.^[4] Each of the routes is clearly waymarked with a dedicated symbol, and run largely off-road. They range in length from 24to, and are intended to be tackled over several days, either as a combination of day trips or as an end-to-end expedition. They are primarily intended for walkers, but may have sections suitable for cyclists and horse-riders.^[5] One of the trails, the Great Glen Canoe Trail, is designed for canoeists and kayakers.^[6]

• Heritage paths are routes that have historically been used for a specific purpose, such as Roman roads, drove roads, pilgrimage routes and miners’ paths.^[1]
• Themed routes are routes based on a specific topic, such as the social history or literary associations of the area through which the route passes.^[1]
• Virtual routes are routes which have do not have any official recognition or waymarking, but which have been promoted via media outlets such as websites, guidebooks or television programmes.^[1] A subcategory of these routes are "epic routes", defined as being routes that provide challenging travel over often rough ground in more remote ‘wild country’, being suitable for more experienced walkers with good navigation skills. These routes are not waymarked, so as to protect the ‘wild country’ qualities and to retain the element of challenge.^[7]
• Finally, the 6miles of the Pennine Way terminating at Kirk Yetholm are in Scottish Borders, Scotland, but are designated as one of the National Trails of England and Wales.^[8]

List of Trails

Trail data-sort-type=number Distance (km) Start/Finish points Description Classification Affric Kintail Way 71 Drumnadrochit & Morvich Follows Glen Urquhart and Glen Affric between Loch Ness and the west coast. Waymarked route Annandale Way 90 (or 85) Moffat & Newbie Barns Follows the valley of the River Annan from its source in the Moffat Hills to the sea in the Solway Firth. SGT 107 Circular route Around the coastline of the Isle of Arran. SGT Ayrshire Coastal Path 161 Glenapp, Ballantrae & Skelmorlie Along the length of the coastline of Ayrshire. SGT 48 Cockburnspath & Berwick-upon-Tweed Along the length of the coastline of Berwickshire. SGT Borders Abbeys Way 109 Circular route: Kelso – Jedburgh – Hawick – Selkirk – Melrose A circular route in the Borders passing the ruins of many abbeys. SGT Ca na Catanach 35 Dorrery Lodge & Achentoul A medieval drovers' road in Caithness and Sutherland. Heritage path Cateran Trail 103 Circular route: Blairgowrie – Kirkmichael – Spittal of Glenshee – Alyth A route following old drovers' roads, minor paved roads and farm tracks in Perth and Kinross and Angus. SGT Cape Wrath Trail 330 Fort William & Cape Wrath Across the Northwest Highlands. Virtual route Clyde Coastal Path 176 Weymss Bay & Milngavie Following the River Clyde until it reaches and crosses the Erskine Bridge. The path then goes inland across to Milngavie to the start of the West Highland Way. There are also two spurs to Paisley and Partick.[9] Waymarked route Clyde Walkway 65 Glasgow & New Lanark Along the course of the River Clyde. SGT 82 Little Vantage (near Livingston) & Hawick A route across the Borders region of Scotland, following tracks formerly used to drive cattle southwards for sale in England. SGT Dava Way 38 Grantown-on-Spey & Forres Follow the trackbed of a closed section of the Highland Railway. SGT Deeside Way 66 Aberdeen & Ballater Largely follows the trackbed of the former Deeside Railway.[10] Themed route East Highland Way 132 Fort William & Aviemore Links the West Highland Way and the Speyside Way.[11] Virtual route Edinburgh the Walk 69 Edinburgh Follows paths, roads and cycleways through Edinburgh's green spaces.[12] [13] Virtual route 187 Kincardine & Newburgh Along the coastline of Fife. SGT Formartine and Buchan Way 66 (or 68) Dyce & Fraserburgh / Peterhead Follows the track of the former railway line the Formartine and Buchan Railway which closed in 1970. The path branches into two sections at Maud.[14] SGT Forth-Clyde/Union Canal Towpath 106 Bowling, West Dunbartonshire & Fountainbridge, Edinburgh Follows the towpaths of the Forth and Clyde and Union canals between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. SGT Great Glen Canoe Trail 96 Fort William & Clachnaharry Follows the canals and lochs of the Great Glen. SGT Great Glen Way 125 Fort William & Inverness Runs generally to the west of the canals and lochs of the Great Glen. SGT Great Trossachs Path 45 Callander & Inversnaid A route through the forested hillsides of the Trossachs. SGT John Muir Way 215 Helensburgh & Dunbar Named in honour of the Scottish conservationist John Muir, who was born in Dunbar in 1838 and became a founder of the United States National Park Service.[15] SGT John o' Groats Trail 235 Inverness & John o' Groats A largely coastal route in the North Highlands.[16] Waymarked route Kintyre Way 161 A route across the Kintyre peninsula.[17] SGT 92 Portavadie & Inveruglas Across the Cowal peninsula. SGT Moray Coast Trail 72 Forres & Cullen Along the coastline of Moray. SGT Mull of Galloway Trail 59 Mull of Galloway & Glenapp, Ballantrae Links the Ayrshire Coastal Path to the Mull of Galloway. SGT North Highland Way 241 Cape Wrath & Duncansby Head Along the north coast of Scotland.[18] Virtual route Pennine Way 429 Edale & Kirk Yetholm The northernmost 10 km are in Scotland. National Trail (England and Wales) River Ayr Way 66 Glenbuck & Ayr Follows the course of the River Ayr. SGT Rob Roy Way 127 (or 154) Drymen & Pitlochry Links sites connected with the folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. SGT Romans and Reivers Route 84 Ae & Hawick Much of the route follows former Roman roads in the Borders. SGT Roman Heritage Way 241 Wallsend & Melrose Heads north from Hadrian's Wall into the Scottish Borders.[19] Virtual route Scottish Coastal Way - N/A A proposed route around the coastline of Scotland. Proposed virtual route Scottish National Trail 864 Kirk Yetholm & Cape Wrath Devised by writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish.[20] Virtual route Sir Walter Scott Way 148 or 151 Moffat & Cockburnspath Links places connected with Walter Scott.[21] Virtual route/themed route Skye Trail 128 Rubha Hùinis & Broadford A trail across the Isle of Skye.[22] [23] Virtual route Southern Upland Way 338 Portpatrick & Cockburnspath A coast-to-coast walk across the Southern Uplands. SGT Speyside Way 107 Buckie & Aviemore (spur to Tomintoul) Follows the course of the River Spey form near its source down to the sea. SGT St Cuthbert's Way 100 Melrose & Lindisfarne A route linking sites associated with Cuthbert of Lindisfarne in both England and Scotland. SGT Sutherland Trail 111 Lochinver & Tongue A trail across Sutherland, devised by writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish.[24] [25] Virtual route Three Lochs Way 55 Balloch & Inveruglas Links Loch Lomond, Gare Loch and Loch Long at the southern edge of the Highlands. SGT West Highland Way 154 Milngavie & Fort William Scotland's first and most popular long-distance walking route.[26] SGT West Island Way 48 (or 52) Kilchattan Bay & Port Bannatyne Located on the Isle of Bute, this was the first waymarked long-distance route on a Scottish island.[27] SGT

See also

• List of long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: SNH Commissioned Report 380: Developing the network of longer distance routes. Scottish Natural Heritage. 2010. 2018-08-08. 0 (Key Definitions).
2. Web site: What is an LDP? [long-distance footpath]]. Long Distance Walkers Association. We list ... walking routes that are 20 miles or more in length and are mainly off-road..
3. Web site: SNH Commissioned Report 380: Developing the network of longer distance routes. Scottish Natural Heritage. 2010. 2018-08-08. 13–15.
4. Web site: Discover Scotland's finest long-distance trails. Scotland's Great Trails. 2018-09-28.
5. Web site: FAQs. Scotland's Great Trails. 2018-07-05.
6. Web site: Great Glen Canoe Trail. Scotland's Great Trails. 2018-07-05.
7. Web site: SNH Commissioned Report 380: Developing the network of longer distance routes. Scottish Natural Heritage. 2010. 2018-09-27. 49.
8. http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ National Trails
9. Web site: Clyde Coastal Path website. 6 August 2020.
10. Web site: Deeside Way. BDS Digital. 2018-09-28.
11. Web site: East Highland Way. www.easthighlandway.com . 2018-09-28.
12. Web site: Edinburgh THE WALK. 2022-10-04.
13. Web site: Edinburgh's new walking route reveals the city's quieter side. 2022-10-04.
14. Web site: The Formartine and Buchan Way. 22 August 2018. www.walkhighlands.co.uk.
15. Web site: The John Muir Way. walkhighlands.co.uk. 22 August 2018.
16. Web site: John o' Groats Trail. The Friends of the John o’ Groats Trail. 2018-09-28.
17. Web site: Route information and maps. Kintyre Way.
18. Web site: North Highland Way. Ian Ellis. 2018-09-28.
19. Web site: Roman Heritage Way. Long Distance Walkers Association. 2018-09-28.
20. Web site: Scottish National Trail. 2018-09-28.
21. Web site: Sir Walter Scott Way. I-Net Support. 2018-09-28.
22. Web site: Skye Trail. 2018-10-01.
23. Web site: Skye Trail: The Route. 2018-10-01.
24. Web site: Sutherland Trail. 2018-10-01.
25. Web site: Sutherland Trail. Long Distance Walkers Association. 2018-10-01.
26. Web site: Scotland's Great Trails - The West Highland Way. www.walkhighlands.co.uk.
27. http://www.westislandway.co.uk/ West Island Way