Girl Outdoors wrote:1. Why are paths often not depicted on OS maps in Scotland? Whats the history behind this?
I think it's important to distinguish between "rights of way" and "paths that are clear on the ground". Take 1:25000 O.S. maps for example. In England, all of the rights of way (public footpaths / bridleways) are marked in green. However, whether the path is actually clear on the ground is often - but not reliably - marked by a thinner black dotted line. This often takes the same line as the right of way (so can be difficult to see underneath the green), but sometimes they diverge, including where the "desire line" is slightly different to the official right of way route.
In Scotland, only the "paths that are clear on the ground" are represented, again with thin black dotted lines. "Rights of way" aren't shown - others have speculated why this might be the case - but they are often less useful because of less restrictive Scottish access laws.
Coming back to the paths on the ground - in both England and Scotland, I find that only the clearest / most popular paths tend to be depicted (with the thin black dotted lines). Given that the mountainous parts of Scotland are proportionally much less popular for walking than the equivalent spots in England, it stands to reason that there will be fewer paths depicted. There are just far fewer paths.
Girl Outdoors wrote:2. I understand that there are some maps of local paths but am unclear where these are held. Local authority?
3. Any other sources of local paths info?
Googling "[insert council area] core paths", or "walks around [insert town]" sometimes returns some useful results. Also, sites like Walkhighlands (and several other walking blogs / websites) - someone on here will probably have walked most of the routes you might be considering, and may well have written a walk report on it.
