Hillwalking in Scotland and Freedom to Roam, For Visitors

Hillwalking in Scotland is a special experience, and not just because of the beauty of the hills, mountains and scenery.

Scotland has now enshrined a universal 'right to roam' in law, which means that walkers have a legal right to climb any hill and walk over any open ground, as long as they respect the privacy of rural homes, and farming and forestry activities. (This right was enshrined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003.)

While many in Scotland consider this open access to the hills and mountains to have always been the case, and the new access laws to simply gave formalized existing custom, it means that effectively for a visitor any hill or mountain or open ground you see from the bus, train or car can be walked over or climbed if you feel the urge.

While the right to roam is also enshrined in law in other places, notably the Scandinavian countries, it is fairly rare and does not exist in the same form in England or Ireland, where private landowning interests mostly still have their way, and can deny access to walkers, for any reason they wish, or for no reason.

The access rights, and the old belief that 'there is no law of trespass in Scotland', has given Scots a sense of ownership of the land and the hills which they are taking full advantage of; and visiting hillwalkers can enjoy the very same rights of course.

Other countries have 'rights of way' for walkers and trampers, which are usually marked on maps, and are usually formed paths or tracks; while tracks and paths obviously exist in Scotland, you don't have to follow them. This means that if you feel like getting away from everyone, you can simply go your own way into the hills and across the moors: many people do this.

I once encountered a happy party of German hikers who had decided to walk the west coast of Kintyre to the Mull, from Macrihanish: there are no paths of any kind along the coast there, but they loved the feeling of isolation they had found, even near such a famous spot.

In addition, open access means that all hills and mountains are open to walkers and climbers, and the goal of climbing all the 'Munros' in Scotland - hills over 3000 feet high - is now commonly attempted (over a lifetime of course). There are 283 mountains this high in Scotland.

While private landowners in other countries are aghast at such an open system, in practice it works well, with walkers tending to show respect to the land and rural activities like arable farming. Also, everyone knows the right of universal access is for walkers, trampers and climbers, not cars or motorbikes.

Any conflict which does arise is likely to be because of walkers being careless with their dogs and allowing them to disturb sheep; because their parked cars have blocked farmer's gates or forestry access for machinery; or between users of the countryside with different interests, like walkers and mountain bikers.

However, these issues are minor compared to the benefits of open access to the hills, which all visitors to Scotland can now take for granted.

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