walkhighlands



100,000th member joins Walkhighlands

After passing it’s tenth birthday, the Walkhighlands community has now reached the milestone of 100,000 members. To celebrate the occasion we ran a competition on the forum for people to guess exactly when the 100,000th member would join. The closest guess – just – was Sunset tripper who wins a bottle of single malt whisky. Founded in 2006, Walkhighlands is the busiest walking site in the UK and far and away the busiest outdoors website in Scotland. The site aims to encourage the enjoyment of walking through providing the best information source and social network for walkers in Scotland. Registration

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Posted in News, Walkhighlands news

£200k path restoration begins on Suilven

A major programme of path repairs and upgrade work has begun on Suilven, Assynt’s famous community-owned mountain. Due to increasing popularity, fragile soils and harsh climate, the most popular approach to Suilven, beginning at Glencanisp, is rapidly deteriorating. The restoration project will set out to repair an eroded 2.5km section of the route to prevent further damage and maintain public access, and protect the rare habitat of peat bog and wet heath, along with the plants and wildlife it supports. It will aim to create a high quality, but still natural-looking path. The Suilven Path Project is a partnership between the Assynt Foundation,

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Posted in Access issues, Nature

Cairngorms Nature BIG Weekend planned for 12-14 May

The Cairngorms Nature BIG Weekend 12-14 May is a celebration of the fantastic wildlife of the Cairngorms National Park. With over 50 activities taking place across the Cairngorms National Park the organisers say there will be something for everyone, from families to the more seasoned nature lover. TV naturalist Nick Baker is the special guest again in 2017 and you can join him on a ‘Minibeast safari’ or hear him talk about his life as a wildlife presenter in Blair Atholl. Take your little ones to explore the fairies and trolls at Ryvoan, enjoy a wild sleepout with the rangers

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Posted in Nature

Walkhighlands adds its 2,000th walking route

We’ve just added the 2,000th walking route to Walkhighlands – a milestone for the site. Having recently passed its 10th birthday, Walkhighlands has long been Scotland’s busiest outdoors website and is the most popular walking routes site in the UK. Whilst new routes are still being added – with new hillwalks and also our first coverage of the Shetland Islands planned for this year – most of the work on our routes is now on updates and the mammoth task of keeping all of the free route descriptions and maps up to date. Walkhighlands already covers walks on all of

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Posted in Magazine, News, Walkhighlands news

Enjoy the mountains safely this Easter

Mountaineering Scotland and Scottish Mountain Rescue have joined forces to alert hill goers to the hazards that hang around even after warmth returns to the hills. With the Easter break already here for some, and just around the corner for others, many more people are looking forward to spending time in the mountains. Conditions are generally good, with a milder than normal winter meaning many paths are already clear of the winter’s snow. But mountaineering experts are reminding people that winter is still capable of biting well into spring. Icy snow, sudden changes in weather, and general fitness can all

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Posted in News

Hillwalkers’ opinions needed for path survey

Scottish Natural Heritage is asking regular hillwalkers to share their knowledge and experience of hill footpaths in a new survey. SNH say that Scotland’s upland paths are used and enjoyed by millions of walkers, climbers and mountain bikers every year, who contribute over £110M to the rural economy. Yet there is very little funding for upland path repair and no funding for maintenance. Both types of work are crucial to protect the landscape and fragile habitats and well maintained paths can help to create great days on the hill. The survey organisers say that, “several organisations involved in upland path

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Posted in Access issues, Nature, News

Environment groups strongly welcome new report on deer management in Scotland

Environmental charities have welcomed today’s publication of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee’s Report on Deer Management in Scotland. The Scottish Wildlife Trust, John Muir Trust and RSPB Scotland fully endorse the key findings of the report, including that the current system of deer management is failing to protect important habitats, and that Scottish Natural Heritage appears to have insufficient resources to enforce legislation. The charities also welcome a key recommendation to establish an independent working group to provide clear advice on the way forward for deer management in Scotland. Dr Maggie Keegan, Head of Policy, Scottish Wildlife

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Posted in Nature

Tours Guides repair Skye footpath

Resilient tour bus drivers who braved high winds and hail showers have completed urgent path repairs at one of Skye’s busiest scenic spots. Staff from Rabbie’s Trail Burners spent two days working on badly-needed repairs to the Quiraing route, which attracts thousands of people each year. The Quiraing in Staffin is part of the Trotternish Ridge, which was formed by a series of ancient landslips, and has become a hugely popular location for Hollywood films and various commercials in recent years. Despite very tough weather conditions at the exposed site, seven hardy Rabbie’s drivers and office workers dug out a

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Posted in Access issues, Nature, News

John o’ Groats Trail now on Walkhighlands

A new long distance trail linking Inverness and John o’ Groats has been developed and is now featured on Walkhighlands at this link: John o’ Groats Trail guide. The challenging route is 235.5km long and is split into 14 stages and there is accommodation and public transport at or near most of the stage ends. The Trail will provide a vital missing link for Land’s End to John o’ Groats walkers. The route was devised by Jay Wilson, who lives at Berriedale. It’s an unofficial route but Jay and an enthusiastic group of volunteers have been busy adding waymarks, stiles

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Posted in Magazine, News, Walkhighlands news

Undercover Osprey reveals itself as an Award winner

A juvenile Osprey that appears to be in ‘stealth mode’ has been revealed as the overall winner of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2016. Photographer Gordon Rae, from Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, took the shot at Rothiemurchus near Aviemore. The judging panel – Andy Hall, Richard Shucksmith and Niall Irvine – chose Undercover Osprey as their overall winner from categories covering wildlife, landscape, environmental, botanical and abstract subjects, awarding Gordon the title Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2016. Gordon said: “My winning image came by chance one morning when the light was in my favour really early on.

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Posted in Photography


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You should always carry a backup means of navigation and not rely on a single phone, app or map. Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is every walker's responsibility to check it and to navigate safely.