Regional library
North West Highlands Library
Explore the published walking routes of the North West Highlands, with guides to remote bothies, lochs, waterfalls, aviation history, wildlife and the names of the mountains.
Hiking Route Guides
Hill Lists and People
Access and Mountain Safety
2 guides
Liathach: The Bypass Path That Isn't Actually Easier
Liathach's bypass path avoids the scrambling, but not the exposure, erosion, or consequences. Sometimes the 'easier' option is just a different set of problems at altitude.
The Wild Camping Grey Area: Where You Can, Where You Can't, and Why Scotland's Different
Britain's wild camping laws are a proper muddle: you generally need permission in England and Wales, Dartmoor's commons offer a genuine legal right to pitch, and Scotland grants access across most land under its own statute. The confusion comes from assuming that permission to walk somewhere includes permission to sleep there, which it usually doesn't, and the legal ground shifts beneath your boots without so much as a signpost to warn you.
Aircraft History
2 guides
The Duke and the Sunderland at Eagle’s Rock
A Sunderland bound for Iceland struck the Caithness coast at Eagle’s Rock, killing fourteen of the fifteen people aboard. Among them was Prince George, Duke of Kent, making this remote Scottish crash site part of a tragedy that reached all the way to the Royal Family.
The Mountain That Changed Mountain Rescue
When a Lancaster crashed near the summit of Beinn Eighe, the terrain proved almost impossible for rescuers to reach. The difficult and heartbreaking recovery exposed the limitations of the time—and helped transform RAF Mountain Rescue into the service it became.
Waterfalls
1 guide
Lochs and Water
2 guides
Loch Maree: When Five Islands Had a Saint, a Viking, and a Cure for Insanity
Loch Maree's islands once hosted a monastery, a Viking burial, and a holy well where the insane were dunked then tied to a tree overnight. The fourth-largest freshwater loch in Scotland comes with 60 islands, ancient oaks, and a treatment regime that definitely wouldn't pass modern ethics.
Loch Ness Volume: When Twenty-Three Miles Hold More Water Than Every English Lake Combined
Loch Ness contains more freshwater than all the lakes in England and Wales added together — about 7.45 cubic kilometres of it, in a glacial trench reaching roughly 230 metres deep. It's Scotland's second-largest loch by surface area but largest by volume, and its sheer size and peat-stained water make comprehensive searching difficult.
Bothies and Overnight Shelters
2 guides
Sourlies Bothy: A Remote Shelter on Loch Nevis
A small MBA bothy on the shore of Loch Nevis with no road access. Rough approach, camping likely. Remote, quiet, and properly off-grid.
Shenavall Bothy: When the Only Way In Is Six Miles of Stalker's Path
Tucked under An Teallach with views down Strath na Sealga, Shenavall is a popular small bothy reached by an approximately nine-kilometre walk from Corrie Hallie. It is unavailable during stag stalking from 15 September to 20 October, and visitors should always carry fallback shelter.
Weather and Navigation
1 guide
Landscape and Place Names
Wildlife and Working Landscapes
3 guides
How to Tell If That Large Bird Is Actually an Eagle
The silhouette overhead is wrong somehow. Here's what you're actually looking at, where to find golden eagles in Britain, and why it's worth getting the identification right.
When midges attack: the case for repellent and a head net
If you've ever been swarmed by midges in the Scottish Highlands and wondered whether insect repellent or a head net might actually be worth the bother, here's a practical look at what works, what doesn't, and why sometimes looking slightly ridiculous is preferable to being eaten alive.
North Country Cheviot
The North Country Cheviot is a white-faced, alert hill breed with Hill and Park types. The Hill or Lairg type was developed in Sutherland; the larger Park type in Caithness. Males can occasionally be horned under the UK standard.
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