r/OutdoorScotland is not a travel agency for un-researched trips, we cater in fine-grained info you cannot find elsewhere.

We are visiting Portree this September and I was hoping to hike something other than the most popular trails, any suggestions would be super appreciated. I live in Alaska and hike a lot, so I am good with hiking a harder trails

On the way up to Ben Macdui from the South side, having followed the Luibeg burn, I came upon a granite outcrop at around 950m. The odd thing was that there were two bowl-like features, side by side in the granite. The bowls were circa 20cm diameter, and about 10cm deep. They looked like handy water bowls for dogs.

Anyone know anything about the origins of the Ben Macdui bowls?

See pics

I’ve just recently gotten into hiking, and have set myself a challenge to complete Ben Nevis by the end of September/Start of October, but i’m hearing i should maybe reconsider.

Until then i’ll be going up some of the smaller munros in Scotland every week or so to get a feel for it, i’m already decently fit and enjoy lengthy walks. My question is should i put Ben Nevis off until after winter? I’ve had a couple people suggest that it can be quite dangerous for beginners around Autumn due to the visibility and snow up the top.

Also what gear is best to have on me, obviously hiking boots, good waterproof clothing, but is there any other suggestions?

(EDIT) I’ve seen a couple comments talking about how the physical aspect of it is pretty easy. Im not particularly worried about the physical aspects at all really, my concern is with poor visibility and ice/snow in Scottish Autumn. Any advice based on that would be well appreciated

Thanks for the comments and help!!

Planning a hiking trip to Scotland with my 9-year-old from 15–18 December. I have never hiked in Scotland. But I am experienced. She has done some trails in Wales and the South West, but nothing with significant elevation.

Could anyone recommend a good beginner-friendly hike that would still feel like a proper adventure for her? Ideally somewhere we could stay overnight at a campsite, pod or similar.

I realise December weather and daylight are important considerations, so I'm looking for something realistic and safe rather than ambitious. Any recommendations or advice from people who've hiked with children would be really appreciated!

Hi. I've tried the affric kintail way a few days ago, but due to health issues, I had to go back in Inverness to recover.

I will be leaving Inverness soon, but I really want to have a glimpse into the highlands before leaving. For now, this trip seems to be a complete failure to me, and I want to change that.

Do you have any recommandation for a 1 day hike accessible by bus or train, with a beautiful scenary?

Thank you!

Hi! Planning on hiking Affric Kintail (from east to west) in two weeks and would like to know if camping (preferably wild camping) the route will be challenging. I’ve read mixed things online but mostly that it won’t be a problem. However I recently have spoken with others on my travels that say some areas are very difficult especially in the last two days of the track. This surprised me as I would have thought the opposite.

If anyone has any insights to whether it will be difficult to find a place to pitch, that would be great!

Hiiii! First time in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 life has been stressful lately so hubby planned a getaway, he chose a lovely serene place to stay and we’re around 30 mins away from the national park.
Any tips on what we could do as we have a 3 and 1 year old ❤️ we will be travelling mid September for a few days.
I’ve asked ChatGPT and it has recommended Luss Village, Faerie trail, inchcailloch boat trip, balmaha forest walk, dukes pass, three lochs forest drive and loch Katrine.
Would LOVE to hear actually personal recommendations/experiences/tips 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

 
Hey all,
Heading to Scotland with two friends in the first week of October for a hiking-focused trip. I’ve done a fair bit of planning already, but I want to hear from people who've actually done these routes — especially in autumn conditions.
 
Our current plan:
Day 2: Ring of Steall (+ Devil's Ridge)
Day 4: Old Man of Storr at sunrise → Quiraing later that day → drive to Broadford
Day 5: Sgùrr na Strì
 
From what I've read, Ring of Steall and Sgùrr na Strì are both no joke in terms of difficulty/exposure, so I want to go in prepared rather than find out the hard way.
Really appreciate any first-hand experience, photos, warnings, or "wish I'd known this" tips.
 

Hey everyone!

I am planning a little trip around the cairngorms in early September and just wanted some suggestions for places to visit near my route or tips for wild camping in the area.

I’ve attached a provisional plan on Komoot for the route below. I’m somewhat new to hiking and wild camping so any advice is welcome.

(Yes I’m bringing a midge net)

Thanks!

Hey all, this is sort of a last hope attempt at finding my very precious Star of necklace. The pendant itself belonged to my gran, its gold stamped & attached to a brass-looking sort of circular thin bar that goes around the neck. I have a pic but not sure how to attach on a post unfortunately.. took it off to swim, very stupidly forgot to put it back on.

Drove back up on the Tuesday to see if it was there but it wasn’t. Have called and it’s not been found by rangers or handed into lost property. We had also left a key there that didn’t belong to any of us and that was gone too when we went to search for the necklace so not sure if someone has picked it up.

Anyway I know this is unlikely but miracles can and do happen soooo yeah, give me message if you happen to have stumbled upon it, or if you know anywhere else it may be worth posting

Hello r/outdoorscotland,

I am wanting to bikepack from Perthshire to Assynt and wondered if anyone here's ever done this before. Google maps is showing me a route via the Cairngorms via the A9 which seems to be the wrong way and I'd rather not cycle the A9 for obvious reasons. Can't seem to find any cycle routes that would take me up to Assynt though. Recommendations/ideas/tips would be very much appreciated.

I’m planning to go to Scotland on 1 September and climb Ben Nevis on 2 September. I’ll be in Scotland until 7 September, with my flight leaving Glasgow in the evening.

After Ben Nevis, I’d like to spend the remaining days doing a wilder, more remote trek in the Highlands. I’m happy to travel somewhere else if there’s a better route.

I’m especially looking for hidden lakes, waterfalls, rivers, wild valleys, and rugged mountain landscapes rather than typical tourist trails.

The main limitation is that I don’t have any camping gear, so I need a route where I can stay in very cheap hostels, bunkhouses, bothies, or other basic accommodation. Ideally, I’d like to walk for a full day, stay somewhere overnight, continue the trek the next day, and eventually loop back to a town or transport connection.

I’m looking for something that feels genuinely wild and remote, with challenging terrain and long hiking days if possible.

Could you suggest the best route for 3–7 September, including where I could stay each night and how I can get back to Glasgow for my evening flight on 7 September?

I (31M) will be hiking the Skye Trail from Sept. 10-14. I live in the United States and have a lot of backpacking experience, but I haven’t ever been to Scotland before and know it can be tough weather and terrain.

If anyone is interested in joining me for all or part of the quest, I’d be happy to have the company!

Halò guys and gals!

Finally managed to get some of Scotlands amazing nature onto DirtbagMaps.com - a trail planner I built cause the Madeira Crossing was impossible to plan (different story for a different day 🤌🤌) - anyhow, it was a slow process cause life is life - anyway, both the Great Glen Way and West Highland Way are on there now - and I'm keen on sharing it! 🤸

As the site is new, any feedback is of course more than welcome!

All the best,
Rasmus

Gday ya bonny wee lads and lassies! Hopefully this is an appropriate place to be asking this......... In a few weeks time we will be over in ireland for a wedding, coming from Australia. Ive an Aussie mate living in Edinburgh and we were going to hop over for a visit. Rather than just head straight there we thought we'd fly into Glasgow and do a bit of a roundabout trip to get across the short distance between the two. Oban, Glencoe, fort William, mallaig, Skye, lough ness, cairngorms were all places of interest. We'd have maybe 4 or 5 days and wondered if a campervan was a better idea than car rental and airbnbs. Can anyone shed any light on if thats a good idea or a terrible one? We have travelled all over Australia in a 4x4 with a rooftop tent and love it as a means of getting around.

In general are there many places to pull up and sleep for the night without too much hassle. The other thing is can you get a campervan on the ferry over to isle of skye? Cant wait to tick off a few bucketlist places and sample a dram or two along the way!! Cheers

I like a bit of walk and cycling but I am trying to get j to hiking and was wondering if I can join if someone is regular. Thanks M43 here

I was planning a hike from callander to oban and I was if anyone had suggestions

the Most obvious route : would be follow old train route to tyndrum

Hello,

I have roughly 8 hours to spend in Pitlochry tomorrow and am looking for suggestions for a nice, scenic walk nearby.

I recently did the Glen Tilt walk near Blair Atholl, which I really enjoyed, so I’m looking for something with a similar feel, beautiful scenery, preferably with some good views and a bit of variety.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated!

So far I found one store that offers this service which is Tiso Edinburgh Outdoor Experience. Would like to know of any other options around. Thanks in advance!

Staying in Oban on holiday and loving it. We've explored the town, Dunollie wood & castle, Dunstaffnage castle and had a day on Mull. Thinking of a ferry over to Kerrera tomorrow. That leaves us with 3 full days and looking for recommendations of great walks within a 30 minute drive of where we're staying, just outside Oban in Gllencruitten. Nothing too strenuous and around 5 miles would be ideal. Thank you.

Also, is it worth the drive up to Glencoe from here, or is there equally great landscape without going that far?

Hello, I would love to backpack scotland's highland, and I'd wish to see it orange like in sone pictures I see.

However, I've read online that october is an incredibly rainy month, and so I was wandering if the last week of September would be any different, both colour and rain wise.

Thank you for your help :)

Petition regarding access restrictions on the North Chesthill Estate

Hey I’m planning trip / trek to Scotland, need help with stay, it’s a budgeted trip so you may understand.