What’s it all about?
Fancy adventuring into the hills? It’s free for everyone, good for the soul, gets you fit and allows you to appreciate Scotland’s wild landscape. The hills in Scotland offer something for everyone, from a short easy walk, to a more serious and adventurous undertaking in a remote area. Some walks offer sign posts and paths and others require the ability to be able to navigate through serious terrain without paths.
Mention the word hill to someone and no doubt the word Munro will pop up. Munros are hills in Scotland that are over 914m high. Corbetts are slightly smaller but just as much fun at 762m-914m. There are 283 Munros and 221 Corbetts. Be warned though: once you’ve done your first one you may feel a burning desire to do them all!
What kit do I Need?
Below are some suggestions for clothing and gear that can be very useful for walking in the Scottish hills:
- 3-season boots for all use or trail shoes for easier summer trails and paths.
- Base-layers
- Fleece
- Walking trousers
- Waterproof jacket and overtrousers
- Gloves and hat
Gear (don’t overload yourself, but include food and drink):
- Map
- Compass
- Walking poles
- Whistle and mobile phone
- Emergency survival bag or shelter
- First Aid kit
- Head torch
- Rucksack
How is it done?
Although you can walk anywhere, most will follow the popular routes using a path.
It’s a good idea to start on low level walks along good paths in stable, summer weather.
Build up your confidence on short/local walks and increase your map reading skills, before progressing to popular, straightforward hills. These should be relatively close to the road, have well defined paths, and only take up to a couple of hours to complete.
After this you could progress onto longer and more challenging hill walks which can take about five hours to complete but which still have well defined paths to the summits.
Navigation
Learn to navigate! The MCofS website has an online
teaching aid.
Where do I get more information?
Mountaineering Council of Scotland and
WalkHighlands.Before you go
Conservation:
Be responsible, respect the environment: following simple guidelines on where to walk, how to camp and where to go to the toilet will all help you to minimise your impact on the outdoors. See
MCofS website.
Access:
You have the right to walk and climb on most land in Scotland as long as you do so responsibly. What does that mean? – know and practice the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. See more at the
MCofS website.