Contents: Public Rights of Way

What is a public right of way?
Beware the Public Rights of Way
When is a footpath not a footpath?
Mountain rescues
How to spot non-existent PRoW ‘footpaths‘
A PRoW personal experience
Local authorities are responsible for PRoWs

What is a public right of way?

In essence a public right of way is a path that anyone has the legal right to use on foot, day or night. Mobility scooters and sometimes other modes of transport are allowed too.

In England and Wales, the orange 1:25,000 scale Explorer maps mark the legal Public Rights of Way (PRoW) in green, the Landranger 1:50k maps use pink. You won’t find any PRoWs marked on OS maps for Scotland because the law allows us to roam very freely there. See Land access for more information.

If you’re crossing private land on a public right of way, normally all should be well. However it’s not always a good idea to follow a public right of way…

Beware the Public Rights of Way

Some PRoWs are centuries old and pre-date modern mapping altogether. With only imprecise historical descriptions to go on, these rights of way can’t be accurately marked. Many take odd lines across the terrain and don’t exist as paths on the ground. A public right of way that goes over a cliff is definitely best avoided. I’ve shared some tips on how to spot the non-footpaths below.

l The OS explain PRoW markings l

When is a footpath not a footpath?

When it’s a PRoW. Some go through dangerous terrain and have almost certainly been a factor in some mountain rescue callouts. Note the OS caveat in the map key/legend.

Mountain rescues

In 2018 the pictured PRoW below likely contributed to three different mountain rescue call outs for Keswick Mountain Rescue, all within a single 2 week period. It’s worth reading the full story as it gives some good insight into PRoW issues.

The PRoW appears on the 1:25k OS map as short green dashes which are labelled in the key/legend as ‘Footpath’. It is suspiciously wiggle-free for a path negotiating rough mountainous terrain.

Just south of Nitting Haws it goes through steep ground.  People who have been navigating accurately have followed the marked PRoW into trouble.

The JohnThornMap of Britain (centre) combines OS PRoWs and OSM data. The PRoW is still marked in green but the real path, obtained from OSM data, is marked in red. The start of this descent path is marked on the OS map but it’s continuation to the valley isn’t.

The free OpenAndroMap (right) doesn’t use any OS data and just shows the one real path down. 

Many paths are marked on OSM-based maps that are not on the OS maps. A good reason to carry an OSM map.

How to spot non-existent PRoW ‘footpaths’

None of the bullet points below are hard and fast rules but they should all be treated as red flags. These only apply to the 1:25k OS maps.

Things are worse on the 1:50k maps. Often real paths and public rights of way (that don’t exist on the ground) will mark similar lines on the 1:25k map. Be warned, the 1:50,000 scale Landranger version will often only show the non-existent PRoWs but not the nearby real paths. It’s a good reason to use a 1:25k OS map. At least any real paths are more likely to show on the map. An OSM map may also help work out where you should walk.

PROW red flags…

• A green PRoW on a 1:25k map is not accompanied by the small black dashes that mark real footpaths. A big telltale. There are exceptions, but if the black footpath dashes are absent the PRoW is probably not a path on the ground.
• The PRoW takes an odd line across the contours.
• The PRoW takes a line over crags, a cliff or tarn.
• The PRoW is wiggle free.
  Steady curves and unnaturally straight sections are a giveaway.
• You can’t see the PRoW on good satellite imagery.
• OSM mapping doesn’t show a path.

Based on my own experiences, as you get higher, PRoWs become less reliable. Some will be dangerous to follow.

The Scar Lathing PRoW (L) is suspiciously straight, is not accompanied by black footpath markings and goes over dangerous rocky ground. It is not a path in real life.

The Maiden Moor PRoW (C) is dead straight, has no footpath markings and takes an odd line across contours and crags. The real path is marked and sticks to the ridge crest as you’d expect.

The Steeple PRoW (R) has unnatural steady curves and a dead straight upper section that goes through crags on the side of the ridge. The lower section of the real path is marked with black dashes but you need to look to an OpenStreetMap-based map to see the path marked in its entirety.

A PRoW personal experience

One winters day, a friend and I had just climbed a snowy Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag in the Lake District. We had started late, it snowed all day and we topped out just after dark.

The paths were hard to see as they were mostly under snow. With head torches on and smartphone in hand, we headed down the hill. Good though the 1:25k OS map is, it didn’t save me from stepping in snow-covered streams. Apart from a damp foot, all went well till we were nearly down in the valley. The snow slope ahead suddenly got much steeper. Even with crampons on we needed to move carefully down the convex slope. The light from our headtorches disappeared into the black ahead as the ground dropped sharply away. It did not look like a safe way to go. 

We retraced our steps onto flatter ground and took a closer look at the map.  Partially obscured by text and harder to see, the real path marked by small black dashes diverged from the PRoW where we were, just above Thornhow End.

We followed that without problem and from below we saw that the green PRoW went straight off a small cliff at Thornhow End. The cliff section of that PRoW footpath has subsequently been corrected. I like to imagine that was a result of my phone call to the OS (probably just a coincidental map update). Curiously, the upper part of the PRoW alongside Black Crag has been moved to a new imaginary line. The small black dashes mark the real paths.

Beware the Public Rights of Way.

Local authorities are responsible for PRoWs

It may be decades before all the non-existent PRoW ‘footpaths’ on OS maps get corrected. It’s clearly a slow process because the OS have been busy since the second world war and there are still plenty to fix.

I have contacted the OS about dangerous PRoW ‘footpaths’, as have others. The OS does not allow for changes to be made based on information from individuals, or even mountain rescue teams who could supply accurate GPS tracks. It is local authorities who are responsible for PRoWs and they supply the PRoW data to the OS. In the Lake District, local authorities rely on park rangers to update paths. Updates are coming slowly.

In contrast to OS mapping, OpenStreetMap can be updated immediately. Just like Wikipedia, we can do it ourselves. The OSM community will likely spot errors and correct them.  It mostly works, as OSM-based paths are usually good.

I haven’t yet found an OSM path that goes across a tarn or through dangerous ground, where there isn’t any kind of a route through. However I have found a few that are at best ‘patchy’ on the ground. Also, just as on the OS maps, a marked path on the OSM map doesn’t mean it will be easy ground. The Aonach Eagach ridge in Glencoe and Jack’s Rake across the Pavey Ark cliffs in the Lake District spring to mind. Both require exposed scrambling in places where a slip could be fatal.

Whatever the map shows, if you’re on a path that makes you feel uncomfortable, then go another way.