Hi Guys, I am quite new here but have received a few queries about the offroading situation up here.
I'm not sure of the situation but my understanding of Scottish trespass law is:- 1) In theory we can go where we like but there is a caviat regarding doing damage and being prosecuted for it - you try taking a 4x4 offroad without damaging the grass/ mud/ pond-life!
2) There are NO green lanes in Scotland and only two "Rights of Way". One of those is an ancient monument, having been built in the 16th Century to get the Red Coats rapidly (for the times) from one hot spot of rebelion to another. It is also the highest pass in the UK and is rapidly becoming a "conquest" trophy for 4x4 owners, scrambler bikers, mountain bikers, quad bikers et al. It was never designed for the use it is getting and is getting severely damaged.............. overuse is rapidly leading the locals to request that ALL traffic over it is stopped. It used to be cobbled over most of it length but now the cobbles are being dislodged and large parts are being washed away with all the rain the area is subject to.
3) There are many landowners who are quite happy to open their land up for 4x4's, scramblet/trails bikes and quadbikes. Generally they don't open on a pay and play basis (although there are some that do) but they DO open to clubs. So the best thing is to monitor the events calenders that clubs like Scotland West All Terrain Club (
www.scotwest.org.uk), The Scottish Land Rover Owners Club (
www.slroc.co.uk), The Scottish Offroad Club and many more. For the most part these clubs are very happy for visitors to come and join them on driving days. There are also several commercial offroading companies like the Scottish Offroad Driving Centre at Glentarkie in Fifie who will take folks on a one off pay and play basis.
4) Forest Enterprise are quite keen to open their forests to the public. There are special Forest Drive events in both the Arygyll and Queen Elizabeth Forest Parks. These drives are run in conjuction with offroad clubs and are open to anybody. Some of them (especially the ones with special offoraod stages) are becoming very popular and require booking. This is the contact address for the central Scotalnd events - liz.connelly@forestry.gsi.gov.uk. There are drives in April, June and September. Only the June one has special stages off the forest trails and that is the one you MUST book - Liz Connelly runs the bookings and if you email her with your home and email address and what you are interested in she will put you on her mailing list. Cost is usually somewhere in the £25 a day range. Event the events with no special stages are great to do, with about 50 miles of driving on the hard forest trails in some of the most spectacular scenery in Scotland. The June event (19th/20th June 2004) has less distance but each forest has between 4 and 6 special stages that leave the trails and venture off inbetween the trees and into the mud
Hope this helps you with your plans to come to Scotland for a spot of fun!
If any of the Scottish members can give more advice/ help then please post it here too.
