UKH

Hi all,

For the last few years I've been using Wikiloc whenever I go travelling, but the database of walks in the UK is far more limited than a lot of other places. I therefore find myself struggling far more to find decent hiking routes at home compared to when I'm abroad.

Does anyone know of an equivalent app/database/website which has good UK coverage? Or just generally, what is the best place to find decent walking routes? I'm considering going old school and buying some books, but it feels like there must be something out there which would allow me to follow routes on my phone.

Cheers!

Pete

walkhighlands is excellent for Scotland - loads of routes of every difficulty level.  UKhillwalking route cards can be useful but not that many of them nationwide.  

Viewranger app also has the option to search for routes near where you are - app is free, but mapping costs money if you want it.

Cheers,

Stu

Are you after longish distance paths to do multi day hikes? Or off path mountain walking route suggestions?

The ldwa have a searchable database of 1500 routes and long distance paths, which should be enough to get you started!

https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/public/ldp_public_home.php

Or go even older school and just buy/download the maps for an area then plot your own route?

Hi Pete

You could start with the UKH Route Cards: https://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/find.php 

Thanks everyone - some good suggestions here. I'll check out UKhillwalking and Viewranger. 

@Moley - Thanks for the suggestion. I'm really just keen on single day hikes. I.e. absolute maximum of ~20 miles. 

@Bulls Crack - what downloadable maps have the best level of detail to do this with? Certainly happy to give this a go.

Assuming you’re coming from abroad...

We have a network of “Long Distance Paths” which are actively maintained and waymarked to a much higher standard than many public rights of way.

This can form the basis for a really nice day’s walk - long or short.  I’ve never really seen the appeal in through-hiking them given our climate...

Lots of info from the LDWA.

https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/public/ldp_public_home.php

Sustrans also maintain a cycle network - around my way it’s packed gravel surfaces on disused railways lines.  I find them a bit dull to walk - then again I know them all well - but really nice for a long relaxed run.

I find this website very useful and easy to use https://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/

if you want longer stuff there is a long distance walking association or something with a lot of stuff, but you will need to google for that.

also if you use Viewranger they have maps for walking and I think strava do the same, however walkingbritain is very good.

Have  look at the Ordnance Survey app https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/os-maps-online.html  1:50000 and 1:25000  - you can plot your own routes and look at them in 3d aerial imagery as well

Thats an odd site, it does not seem to show Rights of Way, Bing Maps does, do you have to pay to get better info?

It's the OS' own site!  You pay for the service £20 pa for all of them. Bing has them but obviously with much more limmited functionality

You do.  The OS maps ('Landranger' 50000:1 and 'Explorer' 25000:1) are on the 'subscription only' side, as are the details of the routes and the aerial 3d thingamabob.

Subscription costs about 20 quid a year, and among other things allows you to print your own OS maps to scale (on A3 or A4 paper).  I was just rummaging through some of the routes on there yesterday as it happens.  Based on my local knowledge of the routes around here there is some very good stuff mixed in, inevitably, with some dross as well.  They invite people to rate the routes from zero - five stars and you can filter by ratings which helps a bit with the signal-noise ratio.

You don't have to pay to try it out though, there is a free 7-day trial you could use to have a good look at it.  (Or print out a big stack of maps.)  I was just about post here and recommend that the OP should perhaps give it a try.

On  the strength of this thread, I checked my own OS app and found that I seem to have general 1:25k coverage which I presumed I was paying for. I just checked with the OS and I'm not  - they said it must be a fluke but invited me to join and get 1:50k too! 

Thanks a lot, for that. £20 in reality is not too bad when going to a new area will cost £7?, but I am wary to signing up to supscription models, its so easy to forget about them and the money just keeps dripping out of your account year after year. And in any event I have most of the paper maps.

I don't know about you, but a big part of the satisfaction for me is making up a route that takes me over new (for me) ground.  Especially if its somewhere I've walked as often as the Lakes.

Choose any location in the UK and google "Walks" and you'll find them

Here's the top 100 walks fom the ITV/OS colaboration with Julia Bradbury

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/itvs-britains-100-favourite-walks/

Enjoy

This.

Sign up to www.hill-bagging.co.uk, get some maps, and have fun. Caution: can get addictive!

Is for me, TBH I just wander off and see where I end up, am I much more into the lower fells for walking now, the views seem better, and we really like the Lyth and Duddon valleys.

I use viewranger app and make up my own routes, supplemented with info from Walkhighlands and Scottishhills.

You don't have to use a subscription for Viewranger. You can buy map tiles one by one, that's what I do. 

Agree about choosing your own route, but if you want to follow something I too would suggest WalkHighlands - an excellent site with walks (and photos) from 1 or 2 km to full mountain ascents and also details of long distance paths in Scotland.

Dave

you could try https://www.trailzilla.com/  great search function or for multi day hikes http://v-g.me.uk/

great site loads of info and photos

My wife and I just plan a holiday in an area where we know there'll be great scenery, we look at a few pics on the web before we go and choose a few peaks/areas which look good. Then we go there, buy the maps at a local shop, spend a few pleasurable hours poring over them trying to find the routes which look as though they'll have the least traffic, and go out, taking it day by day. 

Sorry if this isn't really an answer to your question, but the pleasure in creating your own experience rather than following a pre-dictated path shouldn't be underestimated!

The best and most reliable guide is the OS maps.

You don't get spoon fed the routes others have done.  You can become your own explorer!

There's a free os mapping tool on BikeHike website

https://tinyurl.com/cyurno

It's still useful, but Bikehike seems to be slightly broken now.  Something to do with Google withdrawing free use of their mapping thingamabob for smaller websites perhaps?

Yes. Google require you to open an account backed up by a credit or debit card which they can charge at will if you exceed a certain useage (no organisations have ever been hacked and had such details stolen/leaked eh?!). The map you see on Bikehike uses the Google API but opensource map tiles. So you see the warning. If it used Google's map tiles it would be truly buggered.   

Is that new?  (The error message and the absence of google map and aerial photo layers in the left hand pane are.)

Apologies if it's mentioned above but the Walking Englishman website has mass of brilliant hikes.  https://www.walkingenglishman.com/