Walkers have been advised to call the police if they are intimidated or threatened by landowners. And they are urged to remain calm if faced with aggressive land managers. Following recent reports of walkers being approached and intimidated by landowners or their representatives, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) and Ramblers Scotland have joined forces to recommend a course of action. Andrea Partridge, Access Officer for the MCofS, said: “If anyone feels they have been intimidated or threatened while exercising their statutory rights of access, they should report the incident immediately to the police by calling 101. “They should make…

The A82 at Pulpit Rock on west Loch Lomondside will be closed at night from today (Monday 4 November) to Saturday 16 November inclusive. The road will close at 10pm and re-open at 6am each day. The closures are part of a large scheme to improve the A82, something many businesses and individuals further north have been campaigning for over recent years. Once this work in November is completed, there will need to be a full road closure of less than 1 week in January 2014 together with a series of three more overnight closures during the construction period. The…

Work has started on the final section to complete the circular Loch Leven heritage trail in Kinross-shire. At the moment walkers can only get three quarters of the way round the Loch to the RSPB centre at Vane Farm. There is only a very limited bus service in the summer to return people to the start, the alternative being a dangerous walk on a busy road. Following the raising of £800,000, and after negotiations with local landowners the final 6.5km of trail is being built and is expected to open next spring. This final section, which will close the gap between…

This weekend is the last chance for hill walkers to submit photos of any bulldozed tracks they have encountered. Walkers were asked to turn detective and send in evidence which will be used by campaigners who want to show the damage done to the environment by these unregulated tracks with the aim of persuading the Planning Minister to change the law so these tracks would need planning permission before they could be constructed. Helen Todd of Ramblers Scotland and co-convener of the campaign group said: “We have long been convinced that unregulated hill tracks needed to be brought into the planning…

A new long distance route in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park that will link the West Highland Way and the Rob Roy Way has been officially named. Bruce Crawford MSP helped children from Trossachs Primary School to christen The Great Trossachs Path. The 35 mile long route is aimed at walkers and cyclists, and is due to be completed in 2015. The Great Trossachs Path will form the spine of a wider network of trails throughout The Great Trossachs Forest, a large scale woodland restoration project which extends from Inversnaid on the edge of Loch Lomond to Kilmahog…

Walkers using Scottish bothies are being warned to check that the bothy is still open as some are used for deer stalking activities during the stalking season. The majority of bothies are unaffected but for any maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) walkers can check on their website. The MBA says that a small number of bothies are required by their owners at this time for estate purposes, and at others, a particular route to a building may be preferred. Advice, including a contact number which can be used to check the position, is provided in the individual bothy…