View on the Formartine and Buchan Way
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 them as a great way to discover more of Scotland by foot, bike and horseback.
Mr Stevenson himself stepped out for a short walk on the Formartine and Buchan Way, a 53-mile trail that runs from the north of Aberdeen to Peterhead and Fraserburgh, making use of disused railway lines.
Commenting on the initiative, he said: “Enjoying the great outdoors is hugely important to our health and wellbeing. It also plays a major role in Scotland’s economy, particularly as a destination for tourism. We are very fortunate in this country to have so many long trails running through some fantastic landscapes from our world-renowned walks to more hidden treasures.
“It’s entirely appropriate that these trails be promoted to as many people as possible, for shorter outings as much as the more serious long distance trips. The benefits of enjoying the outdoors are well documented, and this is an excellent way to reap those benefits.”
As part of the initiative, SNH part-funded the development of the Scotland’s Great Trails information on the Walkhighlands website, so that detailed route descriptions with OS mapping, GPS downloads and interactive features are now available free of charge to the public for all 20 of the routes. SNH hopes that having this information in one place will encourage more people to seek out walks they hadn’t heard about before and to share their experiences and photos with other walkers using Walkhighlands. To see a map of the 20 routes and the descriptions visit Scotland’s Great Trails on Walkhighlands.
Ian Jardine, SNH chief executive said: “There is something for everyone in these trails. You can follow rivers from their source to the sea. You can immerse yourself in history, travel along old transport routes and find peace and quiet in wild, rugged landscapes. You can even get a blast of sea air on one of the coastal trails. Many are suitable for cycling or horse riding as well. And of course you don’t have to do the whole route.”
Co-inciding with the launch, a number of events are taking place on some of Scotland’s Great Trails this weekend, including the overnight Ghost Train Walk on the Dava Way; charity walks on the Ayrshire Coastal Path and the Formartine and Buchan Way; a guided walk from Nethybridge to Aviemore on the Speyside Way and the West Highland Way Race on the West Highland Way.
Commenting on the launch, Walkhighlands co-founder, Paul Webster, said, “Promoting these 20 walking routes as Scotland’s Great Trails will mean more people finding out about the lesser known routes and by being able to see other people’s stories and photos, more people will be inspired to tackle all or part of these routes. The Walkhighlands team really enjoyed discovering delightful routes such as the Annandale Way and the Borders Abbeys Way as well as tackling old friends like the West Highland Way to update the route description.” Check out all 20 routes on Walkhighlands and maybe start planning your next Scottish holiday, short break or day walk on one of Scotland’s Great Trails.