New research from walking charity Ramblers Scotland has revealed that Scots living in more deprived areas have far fewer local paths than their wealthier counterparts.  Data-crunching by the walking charity has found shocking inequality in the number of ‘core paths’ that communities can enjoy.  ·         Residents in the most deprived* half of society have a total of 4,579 miles of local core paths, compared with 10,351 miles within the least deprived half of Scotland.  ·         People in the healthiest** 10% of areas have nine times (1,891 miles) more local core paths than the least healthy communities (211 miles).   Core paths are legally designated by Scottish councils…

Campaigners today marked the fifth anniversary of Edinburgh’s Radical Road closure with an urgent call for Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to “see sense”.  HES shut the iconic 200-year-old path on 11 September 2018 due to concerns about rockfall. It is one of the most popular ways up Arthur’s Seat – Edinburgh’s top attraction on TripAdvisor – yet five years on, it remains blocked and ringed by ugly fencing.  Stakeholders including Ramblers Scotland, Cockburn Association, Edinburgh Geological Society, Mountaineering Scotland and ScotWays are urging HES to make a more holistic assessment of risks.   They want HES to weigh the low risk…

The road up Glen Nevis is due to close later this month, from 28th February to 3rd March. The closure is to enable a company to carry out filming. The closure will be from a point 700m beyond the Youth Hostel – affecting access to all of the very popular hill walks from the upper glen, as well as to Steall Falls. Cars will be allowed through only at set times on each day during the closure – at 10:30am for 15 minutes, from noon to 1pm, and at 3pm for 15 minutes. Pedestrians and cyclists will be allowed through…

Minister praises impact of “world famous” Land Reform Act 2003    Environment Minister Màiri McAllan joined well-known faces from across the outdoors community at Holyrood last night to celebrate 20 years of the nation’s world-class access rights.   Ramblers Scotland’s #OutdoorsForAll event marked two decades of the pioneering Land Reform Act 2003 giving the public the legal right to access nearly all land and inland water in Scotland, provided they behave responsibly.   Attendees included many of the original campaigners from Ramblers Scotland and partners organisations who fought hard to win the rights, which are often known as the ‘right to roam’.   Guests…

Highland Council have advised that they are carrying out emergency drainage works around Dalness House, Glen Etive. The works are programmed from today, Monday 14 November 2022 until Friday 2 December 2022. Due to available road widths and to protect the operators on the site, the road will be closed for the duration of these works. Emergency services will have access at all times. Residential access will be permitted. This means that the usual routes to Munros – including Ben Starav and its neighbours – and the Corbetts in lower Glen Etive are all inaccessible for the next 3 weeks.