The latest monthly prize for the best trip report on Walkhighlands has been awarded for a heartfelt account of the gruelling Scottish coast to coast TGO Challenge. The walker’s website received well over a hundred walk reports in June ranging from amusing tales of short family outings to epic backpacks. A surprise were two great reports from Conachair on St Kilda coming in in quick succession! The monthly competition is sponsored by online gear retailer, Webtogs, and £30 of Webtogs vouchers were awarded to runner-up Ray MacKay for the sheer enthusiasm in his account of his first trip into the…

A big push to encourage more people to use Scotland’s long distance routes was launched near Peterhead today (17 June) by Stewart Stevenson, local MSP and Minister for the Environment. For the first time, the best of Scotland’s long distance paths are being promoted as a suite of trails, known as Scotland’s Great Trails. Stretching from the Borders to the Highlands, the 20 trails provide 1300 miles of scenic, high quality paths around the country. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is behind the initiative to inspire more people to use the routes for short as well as long trips, helping promote…

The Annandale Way is a new long distance route that runs from the top of the valley at Annandale Head in the hills north of the town of Moffat to the mouth of the River Annan and the Solway Firth. A full online description of the route, with photos, OS mapping and GPS track, is now available, free of charge, on Walkhighlands. The route was walked by renowned long distance walker and author, Chris Townsend, for Walkhighlands, earlier in the Spring. Writing on his blog, Chris Townsend said, “Just finished a six day walk along the Annandale Way, an interesting…

Fancy crossing Scotland’s central belt on foot without having to get entangled in motorways, housing complexes, shopping malls or industrial estates? Following the towpaths of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal provides a fantastic green and watery corridor across Scotland passing the impressive Falkirk Wheel, remains of the Antonine Wall built by the Romans, and clues to Scotland’s industrial heritage as well as numerous nature reserves and surprisingly quiet countryside. Walkhighlands now hosts the only online in-depth description of this route which is soon to be promoted as one of 20 long distance walks to be known…

2023 UPDATE: Please note this is a historic article and is now out of date; Viewranger no longer exists. There is now a dedicated Walkhighlands app available to all for FREE. Visitors and locals alike can now download detailed guides to walking routes straight onto their mobile phones following a new collaboration between Scottish based walkers’ website Walkhighlands and top mobile phone app ViewRanger. Walkhighlands aims to boost Scottish tourism and encourage walking by publishing online guides and mapping; featuring over 1,350 routes, it is Scotland’s busiest outdoors website. The ViewRanger App turns smartphones into a complete countryside guide with…

Walker’s website Walkhighlands has added two more long distance routes in the Scottish Borders. Full descriptions, OS mapping, GPS downloads and photos are now available free of charge for the Borders Abbeys Way and the St Cuthbert’s Way. The Scottish Borders are famed for their magnificent ruined abbeys at Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh, and the more ruinous Kelso. The Borders Abbeys Way is a long distance walk that links all four Abbeys in a circular route of 107km. The walk has five stages, each ending at an attractive town as the route takes in Jedburgh near the English border, the old…