One of the oldest natural walking routes in Scotland, the so called Watershed route across the central peaks of Scotland has finally been mapped out.
A “watershed route” is the point where the rain falling either goes to the west of east of the country. In this case it’s where the rain falling in Scotland will either flow west towards the Atlantic or east towards the North Sea depending exactly which side of the imaginary line it falls.
Now a properly mapped out 745-mile (1,200km) route has been mapped out for walkers, although as most walkers aren’t likely to want to walk 700 miles, you can do the walk in various shorter sections.
The walk actually starts on Peel Fell in Cumbria right at the bottom of Scotland and travels right up the country to Duncansby Head overlooking the Pentland Firth.
Some stats about the Watershed walk:
- It passes through both the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs & the Cairngorms national park’s.
- Takes in 24 Corbetts (mountains between 2,500ft and 3,000ft).
- Hikes over 44 Munros (mountains over 3,000ft)
- Walks through 89 protected sites or nature reserves.
Anyone taking on the entire watershed route will need to be fairly experienced at hill walking and mountain climbing as some parts are way out in the wilds with no cafe or B&B for a decent meal.
This image gives an indication of how the route pans out:
More information on the route can be found on the BBC Scotland Watershed walk page.
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