Scotland's Great Trails are long-distance "people-powered" trails in Scotland, analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales or the Grande Randonnée paths of France. The designated routes 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. The trails range in length from to , and are intended to be covered over several days, either as a combination of day trips or as an end-to-end trip.

In order to be classified as one of Scotland’s Great Trails, a route must fulfil certain criteria. The route must be at least in length, and be clearly waymarked with a dedicated symbol. It is expected that visitor services will be present along the way, and that the route will have an online presence to help visitors in planning their journey. Trails are required to run largely off-road, with less than 20% of the route on tarmac. NatureScot is the custodian of the Scotland's Great Trails brand, maintaining the official list and providing some finance and publicity, the responsibility however for creating and maintaining each route lies with the local authorities through which a route passes. There are 29 routes, providing of trails in total. Additionally, the northernmost section of the Pennine Way between the Anglo-Scottish border and Kirk Yetholm lies within Scotland, although it is designated as one of the National Trails of England.

The route of each of the Great Trails is marked with coloured diamonds on Ordnance Survey Explorer (1:25000) and Landranger (1:50000) maps; the SGT logo of a thistle within a hexagon is also used to highlight the routes at the 1:25000 scale.

History

The trails grew out of the Long Distance Routes (LDRs), which were proposed and financially supported by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and administered and maintained by the local authorities. The Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 provided the legal basis for the Long Distance Routes, but the first one was not opened officially until 1980. By 2010 there were four LDRs:SNH Commissioned Report 380. p. 5. West Highland Way, opened in 1980 Speyside Way, opened in 1981 Southern Upland Way, opened in 1984 Great Glen Way, opened in 2002

Following the passage of the Land Reform Act (Scotland) 2003, the public has a right to responsible access to most land in Scotland, in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Access rights for new routes therefore largely no longer required to be negotiated and many named walks have been developed by local authorities, tourist organisations and guidebook authors. In 2010 SNH decided that it would not formally designate any further LDRs, but would instead encourage more locally-based proposals for new routes for long-distance footpaths.SNH Commissioned Report 380. p. 6. Within this approach it was recognised that there was a need for a strong "brand identity" to aid marketing of Scotland’s longer distance routes internationally. Minimum standards would be applied in the selection of these branded routes, which would take account of factors such as:SNH Commissioned Report 380. p.p. 87-97.

safety attractiveness of scenery trail surfaces information facilities and services signage and waymarking route definition and continuity accessibility access by public and private transport route management

"Scotland's Great Trails" was chosen as the brand identity, and as of 2018 there were 29 officially recognised Great Trails.

Routes As of April 2024. Trail Distance (km) Ascent (m) Start/Finish points DescriptionAnnandale Way90 (or 85) 1150Moffat & Newbie BarnsFollows the valley of the River Annan from its source in the Moffat Hills to the sea in the Solway Firth.Arran Coastal Way 107390Circular routeAround the coastline of the Isle of Arran.Ayrshire Coastal Path1611110Glenapp, Ballantrae & SkelmorlieAlong the length of the coastline of Ayrshire.Berwickshire Coastal Path 481060Cockburnspath & Berwick-upon-TweedAlong the length of the coastline of Berwickshire.Borders Abbeys Way1091300Circular route: Kelso – Jedburgh – Hawick – Selkirk – Melrose A circular route in the Borders passing the ruins of many abbeys. Cateran Trail1032470Circular route: Blairgowrie – Kirkmichael – Spittal of Glenshee – AlythA route following old drovers' roads, minor paved roads and farm tracks in Perth and Kinross and Angus.Clyde Walkway65720Glasgow & New LanarkAlong the course of the River Clyde. Cross Borders Drove Road 822165Little Vantage & Hawick A route across the Borders region of Scotland, following tracks formerly used to drive cattle southwards for sale in England. Dava Way38146 Grantown-on-Spey & ForresFollows the trackbed of a closed section of the Highland Railway. Fife Coastal Path 1871865Kincardine & NewburghAlong the coastline of Fife. Formartine and Buchan Way66 (or 68)420Dyce & 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. Forth-Clyde/Union Canal Towpath106158Bowling, 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. Great Glen Canoe Trail9635Fort William & ClachnaharryFollows the canals and lochs of the Great Glen. Great Glen Way1251835Fort William & InvernessRuns generally to the west of the canals and lochs of the Great Glen.Great Trossachs Path451165Callander & InversnaidA route through the forested hillsides of the Trossachs.John Muir Way2152015Helensburgh & 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.Kintyre Way1613140Tarbert, Argyll & Machrihanish A route across the Kintyre peninsula.Loch Lomond and Cowal Way 921810Portavadie & InveruglasAcross the Cowal peninsula. Moray Coast Trail72410Forres & CullenAlong the coastline of Moray.Mull of Galloway Trail59480Mull of Galloway & Glenapp, BallantraeLinks the Ayrshire Coastal Path to the Mull of Galloway.River Ayr Way66470Glenbuck & AyrFollows the course of the River Ayr.Rob Roy Way127 (or 154)2325Drymen & PitlochryLinks sites connected with the folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor.Romans and Reivers Route841695Ae & HawickMuch of the route follows former Roman roads in the Borders.Southern Upland Way3387775Portpatrick & Cockburnspath A coast-to-coast walk across the Southern Uplands.Speyside Way1371485Buckie & Newtonmore (spur to Tomintoul)Follows the course of the River Spey form near its source down to the sea.St Cuthbert's Way1002075Melrose & LindisfarneA route linking sites associated with Cuthbert of Lindisfarne in both England and Scotland.Three Lochs Way551560Balloch & InveruglasLinks Loch Lomond, Gare Loch and Loch Long at the southern edge of the Highlands.West Highland Way1543155Milngavie & Fort WilliamScotland's first and most popular long-distance walking route.West Island Way48 (or 52)690Kilchattan Bay & Port BannatyneLocated on the Isle of Bute, this was the first waymarked long-distance route on a Scottish island.West Island Way

See also Long-distance footpaths in Scotland National Trails (English and Welsh equivalent) Long-distance footpaths in the UK Scottish Coastal Way

References Citations

Bibliography

External links

Walkhighlands