Following a number of incidents in recent months involving people walking on railway lines in the Highlands, the Police and Network Rail are warning walkers not to trespass on railway lines. In particular Network Rail say they have received a number of recent reports of trespass incidents in the vicinity of the start of the Ben Lui and Beinn a’Chleibh walk near the car park with one recent report involving a near miss. As a result the British Transport Police have raised concerns about hillwalkers crossing the railway on this route and more generally about the dangers of trespassing on…

An alternative route to the main West Highland Way on the east shore of Loch Lomond has been temporarily closed due to forestry work. The affected route is the lower path north of Rowardennan between Ptarmigan and Rowcoish, passing the bothy at Rowcoish. Work started earlier this week and due to the difficulty of the felling work being undertaken the forestry contractor is unable to say how long the work is likely to take. Walkers are being advised by the Route Manager for the West Highland Way to avoid the lower path and heed any signs until the work is…

Following a series of rescue call outs involving walkers in the Cairngorms, Grampian Police have urged groups to have the correct level of skill and equipment, particularly with regards to navigation. The Police statement states, “Over the past four nights, both Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team and the joint Grampian Police/Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, supported by colleagues from the Search and Rescue Dog Association, Aberdeen Mountain Rescue and Royal Navy Search and Rescue helicopter from Prestwick have collectively responded to four separate incidents within the Caingorms. “The 18 individuals involved all appear to have been attempting to navigate within the Caingorms…

New visitor facilities at the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve, designed to be more in keeping with the mountain landscape, will be officially opened tomorrow (7 August). The major piece of landscape restoration by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) started in autumn 2010 with the removal of the old 1970s visitor centre and car park. The site has since been reinstated to moorland, with a new car park placed in a less visible site within a woodland setting. New unmanned outdoor interpretation has also been created to tell the unique stories of the reserve and to provoke visitors to…

Scottish Mountain Rescue Teams have expressed concern about how the planned merger of Scottish police forces will affect mountain rescues. The Police currently co-ordinate each rescue, with actual rescue work being undertaken by individual mountain rescue teams, helicopter crews and other emergency services if necessary. The Scottish Mountain Rescue Committee is urging the police to consider how rescues will be co-ordinated after the merger in April next year and hopes that the merger can be a catalyst for improving the system rather than causing problems. At the same time, the UK Government has announced the shortlist of companies bidding to…