Long-distance footpaths in Scotland

This page lists long-distance footpaths in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage have defined such paths as meaning a route that is at least long and primarily off-road, or on quieter roads and tracks. This definition is consistent with that of the British Long Distance Walkers Association.

Classification

Under Scots law the public has a right to responsible access to most land in Scotland, in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and access rights for new routes do not generally require to be negotiated. Many named walks have therefore been developed by local authorities, tourist organisations and guidebook authors. There is thus no single register or list of such paths, however some classifications have been developed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH):

Scotland's Great Trails: these are routes judged as meeting standards defined by Scottish Natural Heritage. There are 29 such routes, offering over of trails in total. Each of the routes is clearly waymarked with a dedicated symbol, and run largely off-road. They range in length from , and are intended to be tackled over several days, either as a combination of day trips or as an end-to-end expedition. They are primarily intended for walkers, but may have sections suitable for cyclists and horse-riders. One of the trails, the Great Glen Canoe Trail, is designed for canoeists and kayakers. Heritage paths are routes that have historically been used for a specific purpose, such as Roman roads, drove roads, pilgrimage routes and miners’ paths. Themed routes are routes based on a specific topic, such as the social history or literary associations of the area through which the route passes. Virtual routes are routes which have do not have any official recognition or waymarking, but which have been promoted via media outlets such as websites, guidebooks or television programmes. A subcategory of these routes are "epic routes", defined as being routes that provide challenging travel over often rough ground in more remote ‘wild country’, being suitable for more experienced walkers with good navigation skills. These routes are not waymarked, so as to protect the ‘wild country’ qualities and to retain the element of challenge. Finally, the of the Pennine Way terminating at Kirk Yetholm are in Scottish Borders, Scotland, but are designated as one of the National Trails of England and Wales.National Trails

List of Trails

Trail Distance (km) Start/Finish points Description ClassificationAffric Kintail Way71 Drumnadrochit & MorvichFollows Glen Urquhart and Glen Affric between Loch Ness and the west coast.Waymarked routeAnnandale Way90 (or 85) Moffat & Newbie BarnsFollows the valley of the River Annan from its source in the Moffat Hills to the sea in the Solway Firth.SGTArran Coastal Way 107Circular routeAround the coastline of the Isle of Arran.SGTAyrshire Coastal Path161Glenapp, Ballantrae & SkelmorlieAlong the length of the coastline of Ayrshire.SGTBerwickshire Coastal Path 48Cockburnspath & Berwick-upon-TweedAlong the length of the coastline of Berwickshire.SGTBorders Abbeys Way109Circular route: Kelso – Jedburgh – Hawick – Selkirk – Melrose A circular route in the Borders passing the ruins of many abbeys. SGTCa na Catanach35Dorrery Lodge & Achentoul A medieval drovers' road in Caithness and Sutherland.Heritage pathCateran Trail103Circular route: Blairgowrie – Kirkmichael – Spittal of Glenshee – AlythA route following old drovers' roads, minor paved roads and farm tracks in Perth and Kinross and Angus.SGTCape Wrath Trail330Fort William & Cape WrathAcross the Northwest Highlands.Virtual routeClyde Coastal Path176Weymss Bay & MilngavieFollowing the River Clyde until it reaches and crosses the Erskine Bridge. The path then goes inland across to Milngavie to the start of the West Highland Way. There are also two spurs to Paisley and Partick.Waymarked routeClyde Walkway65Glasgow & New LanarkAlong the course of the River Clyde. SGTCross Borders Drove Road 82Little Vantage (near Livingston) & Hawick A route across the Borders region of Scotland, following tracks formerly used to drive cattle southwards for sale in England. SGT Dava Way38Grantown-on-Spey & ForresFollow the trackbed of a closed section of the Highland Railway.SGTDeeside Way66Aberdeen & BallaterLargely follows the trackbed of the former Deeside Railway.Themed route East Highland Way132Fort William & AviemoreLinks the West Highland Way and the Speyside Way.Virtual route Edinburgh the Walk69EdinburghFollows paths, roads and cycleways through Edinburgh's green spaces.Virtual routeFormartine and Buchan Way66 (or 68)Dyce & Fraserburgh / PeterheadFollows the track of the former railway line the Formartine and Buchan Railway which closed in 1970. The path branches into two sections at Maud.SGT Forth-Clyde/Union Canal Towpath106Bowling, West Dunbartonshire & Fountainbridge, Edinburgh Follows the towpaths of the Forth and Clyde and Union canals between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. SGTGreat Glen Canoe Trail96Fort William & ClachnaharryFollows the canals and lochs of the Great Glen. SGTGreat Glen Way125Fort William & InvernessRuns generally to the west of the canals and lochs of the Great Glen.SGTGreat Trossachs Path45Callander & InversnaidA route through the forested hillsides of the Trossachs.SGTJohn Muir Way215Helensburgh & DunbarNamed in honour of the Scottish conservationist John Muir, who was born in Dunbar in 1838 and became a founder of the United States National Park Service.SGTJohn o' Groats Trail235Inverness & John o' GroatsA largely coastal route in the North Highlands.Waymarked route Kintyre Way161Tarbert, Argyll & Machrihanish A route across the Kintyre peninsula.SGTLoch Lomond and Cowal Way 92Portavadie & InveruglasAcross the Cowal peninsula. SGTMoray Coast Trail72Forres & CullenAlong the coastline of Moray.SGTMull of Galloway Trail59Mull of Galloway & Glenapp, BallantraeLinks the Ayrshire Coastal Path to the Mull of Galloway.SGTNorth Highland Way241Cape Wrath & Duncansby HeadAlong the north coast of Scotland.Virtual routePennine Way429Edale & Kirk YetholmThe northernmost 10 km are in Scotland.National Trail (England and Wales)River Ayr Way66Glenbuck & AyrFollows the course of the River Ayr.SGTRob Roy Way127 (or 154)Drymen & PitlochryLinks sites connected with the folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor.SGTRomans and Reivers Route84Ae & HawickMuch of the route follows former Roman roads in the Borders.SGTRoman Heritage Way241Wallsend & MelroseHeads north from Hadrian's Wall into the Scottish Borders.Virtual routeScottish Coastal Way - N/A A proposed route around the coastline of Scotland.Proposed virtual routeScottish National Trail 864 Kirk Yetholm & Cape WrathDevised by writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish.Virtual routeSir Walter Scott Way148 or 151Moffat & CockburnspathLinks places connected with Walter Scott.Virtual route/themed routeSkye Trail 128 Rubha Hùinis & BroadfordA trail across the Isle of Skye.Virtual routeSouthern Upland Way338Portpatrick & Cockburnspath A coast-to-coast walk across the Southern Uplands.SGTSpeyside Way107Buckie & Aviemore (spur to Tomintoul)Follows the course of the River Spey form near its source down to the sea.SGTSt Cuthbert's Way100Melrose & LindisfarneA route linking sites associated with Cuthbert of Lindisfarne in both England and Scotland.SGTSutherland Trail 111 Lochinver & TongueA trail across Sutherland, devised by writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish.Virtual routeThree Lochs Way55Balloch & InveruglasLinks Loch Lomond, Gare Loch and Loch Long at the southern edge of the Highlands.SGTWest Highland Way154Milngavie & Fort WilliamScotland's first and most popular long-distance walking route.SGTWest Island Way48 (or 52)Kilchattan Bay & Port BannatyneLocated on the Isle of Bute, this was the first waymarked long-distance route on a Scottish island.West Island WaySGT

References

See also List of long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom