We’ve launched our initial coverage of Aberdeenshire. This new area of the site at present covers 27 walks around the coast from Portsoy through Banff and Buchan to the outskirts of Aberdeen, together with further routes including two routes on the very popular hill Bennachie. Parts of Aberdeenshire – notably Deeside upriver from Aboyne – are already covered in the Cairngorms National Park section. Aberdeenshire has alot to offer for outdoor enthusiasts with miles and miles of superb sandy beaches and dunes. The north coast also has some of Scotland’s most picturesque fishing villages. We’ll be expanding further to cover…

Michael Tunney, who has been raising money over the summer for Mountain Rescue and the Police treatment centre that helped him to walk again following a mountain fall, is due to appear on STV’s The Hour on Monday 16 August 5 – 6pm. Michael, known as Bio-man to Walkhighlands’ Forum members, nearly died after a horrific mountain fall. He will recount the exciting tale and also talk about his efforts to raise £30,000 by climbing the Scottish peaks over 4000 feet this summer. Not only did Michael complete this gruelling challenge, just weeks after being warned by doctors that it…

The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe, has come out tops in our poll to find the most popular pub in the Highlands for walkers. With 18% of the votes, it beat its nearest rivals, the Applecross Inn and the Drovers Inn, Inverarnan and the Kintail Lodge Hotel into second and joint third places. The Clachaig is well known as a popular refreshment stop after a mountain expedition in Glencoe. It is also within walking distance of the Red Squirrel campsite and has recently been linked to the main A82 by an improved path network from the Signal Rock car park, where the…

Walkhighlands has just sponsored the Mountain Weather Information Service’s forecast for the Southeastern Highlands. The MWIS provides the most reliable and detailed forecast for climbers and walkers, with information about conditions on the tops as well as more general weather information. The Service is funded by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and SportScotland and topped up with donations from sponsors such as Walkhighlands. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland was instrumental in setting up the Service and continues to seek ongoing funding and make improvements. Recently the service launched forecasts available by mobile phone in addition to the website downloads. Scotland…

In a first for an outdoors website, Walkhighlands now features OS Explorer 1:25,000 mapping for every walk. This is the best-selling scale with field boundaries, walls and fences all marked. The maps can be viewed online or printed and they have the walk route clearly marked. In order to access this new scale you do need to be a registered Walkhighlands user. The registration process is simple and also gives you access to Walkhighlands’ popular Walk Talk forum with the ability to add your own walk reports. To register click here and press Register in top right hand corner. You…

Walkhighlands’ Virtual Highlands is now available in high resolution for most of Scotland. This is possible as Google has updated its satellite imagery of the Scottish Highlands, making programs such as Google Maps, Google Earth et al. show the area in high resolution for the first time. Virtual Highlands allows you to see an interactive view from any summit; for example, click here for the view from Ben Starav. You can then use the cursor keys to look left and right, and to walk forwards or back. A button allows switching between overhead and first-person view so you can change…

A series of podcasts giving the pronunciaton of all the mountains of Scotland have been completed and are now online. Walkhighlands, which has been making the recordings to help non-Gaelic speakers to learn how to say the names, has just made available the recordings for all of the Grahams, the Scottish peaks between 2000 and 2500 feet. With the Corbetts (2500 feet to 3000) being completed last month and the Munros in 2008, hillgoers now have an online resource to help them with hill names across the country. “I believe this is the first time that a complete set of…

As part of Whisky Month, Walkhighlands has teamed up with Ian Macleod Distillers to offer the chance to win a six bottle case of Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky. For competition details and to enter click here. During May’s Whisky Month you can enjoy a huge range of Whisky events and experiences. The month long festival including highlights such as the Spirit of Speyside Festival, Spirit of the West and Feis Ile – Islay’s Malt and Music Festival. Look out for some of Scotland’s most popular and exclusive distilleries as they open their doors to visitors. There are over…

Walkhighlands today launches a new series of Gaelic pronunciation podcasts covering the Corbetts, the Scottish mountains between 2500 and 3000 feet. Now all walkers can listen to a native Gaelic speaker giving the correct pronunciation of summits such as Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill, as well as the meaning or origin of the name. The 221 recordings add to those already available for the Munros and many other routes available free on the website.

Courtesy of the Isle of Skye Food Company, we have a clutch of hand-made foods from the Isle of Skye to give away! The pack includes a mixed bakery box from the Skye Baking Co., with shortbread, oatcakes, biscotti & gingerbread, a trio of Calina’s conserves and ‘Gourmet spring tasters’ from Keith and Rachael Jackson’s farm, as featured on BBC TV’s Monty Halls’ Great Escape. For details of the competition and to enter, click here. For walking routes and accommodation on the beautiful Applecross peninsula, click here.