Access for walkers in Britain
Most
land in Britain is privately owned, even in
protected areas such as national parks, but thanks to a good system of
access for walkers, there are many opportunities to explore
on foot away from roads, either by following footpaths and rights of way
or, in many places, by enjoying public access over wider areas of
countryside. This page briefly explains access arrangements to
the outdoors and the legal position as it affects walkers.
One of the reasons why the British countryside has such a good level of access is because of the work of the Ramblers’ Association. Our dedicated volunteers and staff have played a key role in securing better protection for footpath networks, better rights of access to the wider countryside and conservation of some of our most beautiful landscapes.
Note. The guidance on this page covers only access for walkers for the purposes of transport, exercise or recreation. When out walking there is no problem with stopping to rest, admire the view or to eat and drink, so long as you clear up after yourself. You can take a pushchair or wheelchair, though there is no guarantee the terrain will be suitable for them.
Paths and trails
Access to the wider countryside
Other useful information
Paths and trails
Footpaths in England and Wales
England and Wales have an extensive network of off-road routes
classed as Public Rights of Way. Local authorities have a duty to protect and maintain
these and to record them on official “definitive” maps. Around 225,000km/140,000 miles are recorded on official maps.
Most rights of way are shown on
Ordnance Survey Explorer and Landranger
maps, and should be signed at junctions with public roads. Many are
also signed or “waymarked” with coloured arrows along the route itself.
Strictly speaking, a right of way is not the path itself but your legal right to cross land along a certain route: in some cases a right exists although no path is visible.
There are several different categories of rights of way.
Public Footpaths are open only to walkers, and may be
waymarked with yellow arrows.
Public Bridleways are open to
walkers, horse riders and cyclists
(although cyclists should give way to other users) and may be waymarked with blue arrows.
Restricted
Byways are open to all
non-motorised users including vehicles such as horse-drawn carts.
They may be waymarked with plum-coloured arrows.
Byways
Open to All Traffic can be used legally even by motorists.
Although most of them are inaccessible to ordinary motor vehicles,
you may encounter off-road vehicles like 4x4s and trials bikes.
By law, rights of way should not be obstructed and can’t be diverted or closed simply for the convenience of the land owner. Unfortunately many local authorities do not adequately fulfil their legal duties, and on some paths you may encounter problems with illegal obstructions, badly maintained path furniture and misleading signs. Where a path is obstructed, you are entitled to divert around the obstruction, or to remove it (provided you have not gone out specifically to remove the obstruction). Help keep paths open by reporting problems.
There are also numerous other paths open to the public. These include:
- Permissive paths, where the owner has given permission to the public to use the path. Although permission is usually granted on a long-term basis, it can be withdrawn at any time, and some permissive paths are closed for one day a year on a token basis.
- Paths across public open spaces and access land. Where these are not rights of way, they will be open under the same arrangements that apply to the open space or access land (see Access land in England and Wales).
- Towpaths along canals. These are sometimes rights of way, and those that aren’t are usually open by permission. Most canal towpaths are managed by British Waterways, who are keen to encourage walkers.
- Off-road multi-user paths which often form part of local cycle networks or the National Cycle Network promoted by Sustrans but are also available to walkers. Legally they may be public rights of way, roads from which motor traffic has been banned, or permissive paths. Some local networks of multi-user routes are known as greenways and may combine off-road paths with sections of quiet or traffic-calmed roads.
Established permissive paths, towpaths, off-road cycle routes and most areas of access land are shown on Ordnance Survey maps.
For more about rights of way, see Basics of Footpath Law.
Footpaths in Scotland
Rights of way are less extensive in Scotland than in England and Wales because there is a tradition of access to most land. Rights of way do exist, but there is no legal obligation on local authorities to record them, so they don’t appear on Ordnance Survey maps, though paths and tracks are shown on these maps as geographical features and you have a right to walk on most of these.
The Paths for All Partnership promotes local paths for people of all ages and abilities. ScotWays (the Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society) keeps a catalogue of rights of way, signs many of them and maps and describes the major rural routes in its publication Scottish Hill Tracks.
New rules enable local authorities to develop Core Path Networks by adopting and improving existing paths and creating new ones. Councils will soon be asked to produce plans for these networks, which will largely supersede the existing arrangements for rights of way. Core paths will eventually appear on OS Explorer maps.
Roads
Except for motorways and some other busy roads, all public roads are open to walkers and you have just as much right to be there as a car driver does, though you should follow the Highway Code. Most off-road walks involve at least some road walking if only to link between paths. Take care especially on roads without pavements: see our safety advice.
Some
roads and streets have been redesigned and legally reclassifed to give
equal priority to all users, including walkers, across the whole road
surface, with low speed limits for drivers. These are clearly signed on
the ground and usually include design features like road narrowing,
coloured surfaces and traffic calming. In residential areas they are
known as Home Zones.
Rural
roads with equal priority for all users are known as Quiet Lanes.
Unfortunately there are no widely available maps that indicate roads with pavements or traffic calming, though some local authorities may produce maps indicating walker-friendly street-based routes, particularly in urban areas.
Signed paths and routes
Many walking routes are promoted by special signing and/or published maps and guides. These are sometimes called promoted routes and the longer ones may be known as long distance paths. They vary enormously, from 500m health walks around urban parks to European long distance paths of 2000km or more. They have been created by linking together public rights of way and other public paths, routes across public open spaces and access areas and road links. In some cases new links have been created to make a promoted route more direct, safer or more attractive.
Some of these routes are recognised and funded by national government
agencies: these are known as National Trails in England and Wales,
and Long Distance Routes in Scotland. These are especially well
publicised and supported and signed with a standard logo: an acorn in
England and Wales, a thistle symbol in Scotland. Many other signed routes
have been created with the support of local authorities and these are
often signed with their own distinctive logos.
There are also unsigned, “unofficial” routes created by organisations and even individuals who devise and publish itineraries using existing public paths
Most signed promoted routes, and some unsigned ones, are marked on Ordnance Survey maps.
See Paths and Routes for further information and details of a wide selection of routes.
Access to the wider countryside
In many areas of England and Wales and on most land in Scotland you can enjoy wider opportunities for access, where you don’t have to keep to a particular route but can walk at will through a wider area of open space. You can use any path, or wander off the path if the terrain is suitable.
Access land in England and Wales
Around 1.4million ha/3.4million
acres of land in England and Wales are designated as access land,
where the public has a right to walk under the Countryside and Rights
of Way Act 2000. The exact areas of land covered are shown on official maps
prepared by the Countryside Agency and the
Countryside
Council for Wales. Access land may be signed on the ground with the
access symbol (right).
The rights apply to specific areas of land classed as mountain (over 600m), moor, heath, down and registered common land (areas of land which were historically used communally by local residents). In addition landowners are now able voluntarily to dedicate other categories of land for public access.
Landowners can restrict or prevent access for up to 28 days a year without special permission, and can apply for additional restrictions for purposes such as land management, conservation and fire prevention. These closures apply only to the wider right of access -- where, for example, land closed under the 28-day rule is crossed by a footpath that is a public right of way, you still have a right to use the footpath.
You
might also see a sign indicating the end of wider access (right).
This should only be used where the boundary between access land and
non-access land is unclear. It applies only to wider access, not for
example to rights of way that continue beyond the sign.
In addition there are various areas of land open to the public under arrangements that predate the 2000 Act. They include:
- Public parks and other open spaces managed for public access and recreation
- Much land and woodland owned by the National Trust, Forestry Commission, RSPB, Woodland Trust, Wildlife Trusts, water companies, various local trusts and conservation bodies and even certain land managed by Defence Estates, because of legal obligations or a longstanding policy to provide public access. The Forestry Commission has said it will now dedicate much of its land as access land under the new laws.
- Land open under specific acts of parliament such as Dartmoor, the New Forest, Malvern Hills, Helvellyn, Haweswater, Epping Forest and the Elan Valley, and some commons.
- Land open by agreement or permission. Some land, notably in the Peak District, is open under long-term legal agreements regulated by earlier access legislation. Some land, including agricultural land, is open under more short-term arrangements such as agri-environment schemes.
- Land with 'de facto' access. Some areas of land – for example many open spaces, woodlands, cliffs, coast and beaches – are treated as public because the landowner does not try to prevent access, though such policies may change at any time.
Most access land (with the exception of very small parcels of land, some parks and open spaces and areas of 'de facto' access) is shown on Ordnance Survey Explorer maps and these are the best choice for planning to walk. Details of restrictions are given at information points on the ground, or are available from local authorities and information centres. The official "conclusive" maps of new access land, together with much other useful information, can be viewed on the Countryside Agency's Countryside Access website and the Countryside Council for Wales website.
For more see Freedom to Roam.
Access in Scotland
In Scotland there has long been a general presumption of access to
all land unless there is a very good reason for the public to be excluded.
The Land Reform Act 2003 confirmed this presumption, and walkers in Scotland
now have
a statutory right of access to all land, except for areas such
as railway lands, quarries, harbours, airfields and defence land where the
public are excluded by law.
Walkers should act responsibly when exercising their right of access, and follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code published by Scottish Natural Heritage. For example you should avoid walking across growing crops when there is a route around the field or across sports pitches when they are in use, and obey advisory signs asking you to avoid certain areas at certain times for land management, safety or conservation reasons.
Care should be taken during the deer-stalking and grouse-shooting seasons. Further information on stalking is available from the Hillphones service sponsored by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Information about access is available from local authorities and information centres.
For more see Outdoor access in Scotland.
Other useful information
Dogs
You can take a dog on public rights of way in England and Wales but you must keep it under close control, especially near livestock. On paths that are open by permission you may be asked to keep your dog on a lead or not bring a dog at all.
Dogs are allowed on new access land in England and Wales but must be kept on a short lead with a fixed length of no more than 2m between 1 March and 31 July to avoid disturbing breeding birds, or at any time in the vicinity of livestock. Dogs may be banned entirely from grouse moors or from land where lambing takes place and there may be other local restrictions. Walkers should check for signs locally before taking dogs onto access land.
- For more information about taking your dog into the countryside in England, ask for the leaflet You and your dog in the countryside, available from the Countryside Agency or downloadable from their Countryside Access website (under What you need to know).
- For more on the legal aspects of taking dogs on footpaths in England and Wales see Animals and Rights of Way.
In Scotland you can walk with a dog provided you keep it under proper control, especially near livestock. Don't take it into fields where there are young animals, or into fields of vegetables and fruit unless there is a clear path, in which case stick to the path. Keep dogs under close control or on a short lead between April and July in areas like moorlands, forests, grasslands, loch shores and the seashore to avoid disturbing breeding birds. For more advice see the Scottish Outdoor Access Code under Responsible Walking below.
Wherever you go, consider others by clearing up after your dog and disposing of dog mess properly. Allowing your dog to foul a public place is always anti-social and in many cases it is also an offence.
Useful websites:
Paws for a Walk:
www.pawsforawalk.co.uk has information on dog-friendly establishments
and advice for walkers with dogs.
Wild camping
In England and Wales you have no general right to camp and if you do so you may be trespassing, unless you use an official site or first obtain the landowner’s permission. In practice responsible “wild” camping may be tolerated in upland areas, particularly when you are a long way from alternative accommodation, though strictly speaking you are still trespassing and could be moved on. Some upland areas have particular sites where camping is informally tolerated. The best approach is to enquire locally or contact information sources such as national park authorities in advance.
In Scotland responsible wild camping is permitted on most land so long as you follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (see Responsible walking below). The Code itself gives detailed guidance, and useful advice on how to camp responsibly is also available at www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk/leaflets/wildcamp.html.
Trespass
If you are on private land where (or when) access rights or other public access arrangements don't apply, or you fail to comply with the conditions of access rights, for example by acting irresponsibly, the landowner could claim you were trespassing. In most cases this is a civil rather than a criminal matter, so signs stating “Trespassers will be prosecuted” are normally meaningless.
In England and Wales, the landowner can use reasonable force, such as taking you by the arm, to get you to leave. In Scotland, the Outdoor Access Code advises landowners never to use force. A landowner could also seek an injunction or, in Scotland, an interdict against you returning to the same land, or attempt to sue you for damages, but the lack of cases suggests that this is unlikely in the case of harmless recreational use of land.
The exception is on certain special areas such as land around railways, airports, ports and military land, where it’s a criminal offence to walk without permission: such land is usually fenced off and clearly marked.
Responsible walking
Please take care to respect and protect the outdoors as well as enjoy it. In England and Wales please follow the Countryside Code:
- Be safe - plan ahead and follow any signs
- Leave gates and property as you find them
- Protect plants and animals, and take your litter home
- Keep dogs under close control
- Consider other people
For the full text of the Code and further advice, see our Countryside Code page.
In Scotland, follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code:
- Respect the interests of other people
- Take care of the environment
- Take responsibility for your own actions
For a fuller version of the Code, see our Scottish Outdoor Access Code page.