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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Claire Lindsay

Here are Scotland's top 10 best walking trails - from difficult to easy

SCOTLAND'S best walking trails have been revealed, with routes for seasoned hikers to those who like to take in the scenery at a more leisurely pace. 

The Devil’s Pulpit and Finnich Glen, West Dunbartonshire, topped the rankings, which were calculated using a mixture of the difficulty level of the walk, how frequently the route has been searched for online, and the time and length it takes to complete. 

Online clothing brand Damart also used data from AllTrails and Ramblers to rank the locations by assessing their duration, difficulty, accessibility, amenities, and scenery.



The dog-friendly trail in West Dunbartonshire scored a 65 out of 100, and has been featured in various movies and TV shows such as Outlander and Netflix’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

Alyson Taggart, Damart product and publications director, said: “Scotland is well known for its wealth of extraordinary natural landmarks, beautiful countryside, and landscapes – all of which make for an enjoyable walk and a perfect, low-cost way to spend a day, even more so on those rare occasions when the weather is on our side.

The National: Arthur's Seat's scenic views got it ranked as the second best Scottish trailArthur's Seat's scenic views got it ranked as the second best Scottish trail

“With appreciation for the outdoors skyrocketing during the pandemic lockdowns, we wanted to provide a guide to help Brits choose from the abundance of Scotland-based walks, hikes, and scrambles available to us.

"We hope our research has highlighted well-known rambles and some hidden gem trails that are ripe for exploration, no matter if you’re a hiking pro or a novice.”

Damart used the AllTrails and Ramblers top 100 walks across the UK, before creating a weighted rank to score Scotland's routes. 



Using the rating, ease of walk, where each walk was given a rating of 1-3 with 1 being the easiest and 3 the hardest, length of walk-in minutes, Instagram hashtags and Google search volumes, and each factor was weighted 20% to make up the total score of 100%.

This ranking was used to discover Scotland’s top walks, filtering other countries out.

“We hope our research has highlighted well-known rambles and some hidden gem trails that are ripe for exploration, no matter if you’re a hiking pro or a novice," Taggart added. 

You can see the full list of Scotland's top 10 walking trails below.

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