Scottish Hill Tracks is a unique resource describing 350 routes for walkers, cyclists, riders and runners to explore the paths, old roads and rights of way which criss-cross Scotland's hill country, from the Borders to Caithness and on the surrounding islands. It's an essential companion for anyone with a keen interest in Scotland's cultural heritage and for whom wide horizons, wild places and adventure beckon.
This rich, sprawling network journeys through farmland and forest, moorland and coastline, bladed ridges and high plateaux, deep glaciated glens and peatlands-and much else besides. An additional section and six new routes in the Western Isles contribute to a collective tally of 194,000m of ascent and over 7,600km of ancient tracks. Many of these are identified as Heritage Paths-historic routes which follow in the footsteps of Roman legionaries, mediaeval pilgrims and traders, cattle drovers and funeral parties, amongst others.
Many changes have since been wrought upon Scotland's landscapes, and-100 years on from where its origins can be traced- this sixth edition offers a fresh perspective, with full resurveys of each of the 350 hill routes and 175 variants that crisscross the country's mountains, hills and uplands.
Take a deep lungful of fresh air and feel the excitement of wide horizons, wild places and adventurous days, with a hill path winding ahead to lead you there. In Scotland, we are, as my mother would say, 'blessed' with the riches of the natural world that beckon at our doorsteps. To answer the call of the wild and to step outside offers each one of us the potential of freedom-the freedom to roam, the freedom to explore and the freedom to get to know our own country and ourselves in a uniquely intimate way. - foreword extract by Paul Murton.