Plan your own walk
We'd like to encourage more people to get outdoors and explore our wonderful countryside. Simply exploring the paths and tracks close to where you live or where you are staying! To help you, this page provides some sources of information.
Enjoying world-class access rights
Did you know that Scotland has some of the best access rights of anywhere in the world, similar to those rights in countries like Norway and Sweden?
These access rights must be exercised responsibly. At Perthshire Treks, we know a lot about these rights and responsibilities - Richard pulled together the national Access Forum proposals for a right of responsible access and wrote the Scottish Outdoor Access Code!
Your rights
You can exercise your access rights:
- over most land and inland water - including mountains, moorlands, woods and forests, grassland, the margins of fields where crops are growing, paths and tracks, rivers and lochs, and most parks and open spaces
- for a wide range of recreational activities - including walking, cycling, horse riding, wild camping, picnicking and educational purposes
Your access rights don't apply to houses and gardens, non-residential buildings and associated land, land on which crops are growing, sports or playing fields when they are in use, golf courses (but you can cross a golf course provided you don't interfere with any games of golf) or visitor attractions which charge for entry.
Your responsibilities
You need to exercise your access rights responsibly. There are three key principles to follow:
- respect the interest of other people - act with courtesy, consideration and awareness at all times
- care for the environment - look after the places you visit and enjoy, and leave the land as you find it
- take responsibility for your own actions - the outdoors cannot be made risk-free and act with care at all times for your own safety and that of others
People who own or manage land also have responsibilities, including respecting access rights and acting reasonably when asking people to avoid work happening on the land.
A new national campaign, #RespectProtectEnjoy, has been launched by VisitScotland and others to promote access rights and responsibilities. This includes a
video about enjoying Scotland's outdoors responsibly. You can also find more
information and guidance here:
Using paths and tracks
Perthshire has lots of fantastic paths and tracks. You can find out more about where these are by using the links below. Explore and enjoy!
Local path networks
Local path networks can be found around the towns and villages of Pitlochry, Dunkeld & Birnam, Blairgowrie, Crieff and Kirkmichael.
The Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust is a good place to find out about these networks. You can download leaflets from its website:
Core paths
There are over 2,000 kms of "core paths" in the Perth and Kinross council area. These paths were mapped to support Scotland's access rights. Most of the paths are around communities and are valued by locals and tourists. The paths include rights of way, routes within and between communities, existing popular and promoted paths, upland and forest paths, and longer distance routes. The link below will take you to a website page with a map on it. Expand the map and you can then see each route. You can then print off the map and take it with you. Happy exploring!
Heritage paths
From historic rights of way to old drove roads, there's a lot of heritage paths in Perthshire. Scotways - the Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society - is a great source of information about these paths. You can find out more here:
Scotland's Great Trails
Two of Scotland's Great Trails can be found in Perthshire - the Cateran Trail and the Rob Roy Way. The Cateran Trail is a fully waymarked circuit through the Perthshire and Angus glens. It follows some of the routes used by the Caterans – fearsome cattle thieves who raided Strathardle, Glenshee and Glen Isla from the Middle Ages to the 17th century. The Rob Roy Way runs through some fantastic countryside in the Southern Highlands, starting near Loch Lomond and finishing in Pitlochry (or you could walk it from Pitlochry). You can find out more about these and other Great Trails here:
Other ideas
The Ramblers' Association Scotland is producing a comprehensive map of paths and tracks throughout Scotland. You can find out more here:
Slow Ways is a project to create a network of walking routes that connect all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages. Using existing paths, people will be able to use the Slow Ways routes to walk between neighbouring settlements or combine routes for long distance journeys. Find out more here:
