Backpacker's Britain - Central & Southern Scotland

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Reviews
• Further Reading

Background
 

The mountains of Britain are one of the richest, most diverse landscapes to be found anywhere in the world. Many of our mountain and moorland regions are also within easy reach of town and city, and the Southern Highlands can be counted among them, being within a couple of hours drive from either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Wild mountains, rocky coasts, and long, winding glens make this one of the best regions for the backpacker to explore. There are places here that take days to reach on foot, places where only the dedicated backpacker can venture. This is wilderness exploration at its best. Crossing a mountain range from one end to the other, or climbing a set of peaks around a desolate Highland glen will introduce the walker to hitherto unknown regions, and where such a trip involves the commitment of an overnight stopover or more, so much the better.

There is much to be discovered within the various mountain ranges of the Southern Highlands, but some of the coastlines and lesser hill ranges also deserve a mention, for they are just as vital a component of our natural heritage as any of the higher regions, and they can often be as grand. There is a limitless variety of possible backpacking routes, all as good as each other in terms of sense of achievement to be had from a successful trip.

The first book in this Backpacker’s Britain series covered Northern England, the second covered Wales, and the third, on Northern Scotland, introduced the superb multi-day walks that could be had north of the Great Glen. This book focuses on detailed backpacking routes in some of the finest corners of Southern Scotland. Thirty routes within the boundaries of the Southern Highlands are described here, all taking two or more days to complete, with overnight stops at a bothy, youth hostel or camping, either wild or at a recognised campsite. These are in my opinion the very best backpacking walks in the region, but there is endless scope for further exploration. This should be seen only as an introduction, an aperitif perhaps, for other routes that can be planned and tackled by those who have gained experience through following the routes described here.

For the purposes of these books I have taken the boundary between Northern Scotland and Southern Scotland as being the Great Glen, that huge trench with its string of lochs stretching between Inverness on the Moray Firth in the north-east of the country to Fort William on Loch Linnhe in the west. This book features walks south of the Great Glen, and north of the Scottish central belt – the great cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

How to Use This Guide

This book is aimed at anyone with a love of wild mountain and coastal walking. Many of the routes take the walker into remote and potentially dangerous terrain, so you should ensure that you’ve got prior experience of mountain walking and wild camping before tackling any of these walks. Good hill fitness is essential, as is the ability to accurately navigate using a map and compass – GPS, though a useful aid in experienced hands, is no substitute for the real thing!

The routes are ordered starting in the Monadhliath range, then going east through the Cairngorms National Park. A long multi-day route connects the Cairngorms to Lochaber, and links routes between the two areas. Most of the routes are circular, but a few are linear. They range in length from two-day routes through to a seven-day traverse.

It is hard to give a best time of year for walking in Scotland – it can be great during any season! Generally speaking midwinter (say January through to March) will give very hard conditions with most routes being snow-bound – but snow-holing instead of camping can be fun! April to June is often a really good time to be in the Highlands as the weather is often at its best then and there are fewer midges. July and August can be very hot and wet, and it is then that the midges are at their peak. September through to December can also be a great time for a backpacking trip, and most of the midges will have gone to ground by then. Note however, that you will have fewer hours of daylight in which to walk, and more time will be spent brewing up tea in tents or bothies!

Each walk begins with an information box. These give details of where to start and finish the walk, the number of days needed and the distance covered. The various maps needed along the way are also detailed here – these are the maps I feel are the most appropriate for the route, including Harvey Superwalker and/or British Mountain Maps, and/or Ordnance Survey Landranger and Explorer maps. This is subjective of course, as lots of people have their own ideas as to what makes one type of map better than another. The recommended maps are those that I found best covered the route in question.

For each route there is then an Area Summary and a Route Summary, followed by any additional information, including details of accommodation en route and local tourist information. There are also a number of suggested escape routes for each walk.
Note: the sketch maps in this book are intended to be used only to show the very basic outline of the route taken. They are not intended to be used for navigational purposes while actually walking the route – it is essential that either the suggested Harvey or OS maps are used during the walk.

Getting Around and Accommodation

The Scottish Tourist Board (tel 0131 332 2433) is a great source of information when it comes to planning trips into the hills. I really couldn’t have written this book without their help! Their website www.visitscot-land.com is useful for booking accommodation, as well as giving useful transport information.

Accommodation needs to be planned, and often booked, ahead. You can find anything from a simple campsite, through hostels, B&Bs, guesthouses, hotels, self-catering cottages and even castles, by contacting VisitScotland. Accommodation is plentiful for most of the year, but be aware that many providers close for the winter season – from October through until March. Checking ahead is essential during this time.

For most of the routes in this book it is definitely easier if you have your own car. However, public transport is possible for many of the routes, and again VisitScotland can advise on the best way to travel to the start and finish points of each walk. A useful resource for travel information is the national organisation Traveline (tel 0871 200 2233, www.traveline.org.uk).