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OutdoorSCOT

Editorial policy

How OutdoorSCOT writes, sources, verifies and updates its content — and what we do when we get something wrong.

Who writes OutdoorSCOT

OutdoorSCOT is written by Gary Innes, a Scottish hillwalker, mountain biker and outdoor guide based in the Highlands. Gary has been walking the Scottish hills for over twenty years, has completed all 282 Munros, and has visited most of the locations covered on this site in person.

Specialist sections are reviewed by contributors with direct experience in those areas. All contributors are credited on the pages they write or review. OutdoorSCOT does not publish anonymous content.

Primary sources

Programmatic data (hill classifications, heights, grid references, bothy locations) comes from established, authoritative sources:

Editorial content — route descriptions, parking notes, bothy condition, approach advice — is written from personal experience and site visits. Where this is not possible, we note the source and date of information.

How we calibrate difficulty and grades

OutdoorSCOT uses a 1–5 difficulty scale calibrated to Scottish conditions and an experienced hillwalker as the baseline, not a tourist or beginner. Grade 3 on OutdoorSCOT is roughly equivalent to a straightforward Munro in good summer conditions on a clear path. Grade 5 involves sustained scrambling, navigation on pathless terrain in poor visibility, or winter conditions requiring axe and crampons.

Distance and ascent figures are sourced from DoBIH data and OS mapping. We use conservative estimates for approach distances rather than optimistic straight-line figures.

Update cadence

Pages carry a "last reviewed" date in the metadata. Our update schedule:

  • Top 50 pages by traffic — reviewed at least annually, or when significant changes occur (path changes, planning restrictions, estate access changes).
  • All other pages — reviewed on a rolling 2-year cycle, prioritised by reader corrections and known changes.
  • Programmatic data (hills, bothies) — updated when DoBIH or MBA publish revisions. DoBIH publishes 2–3 updates per year.
  • Live data (weather, avalanche) — fetched from source APIs in real-time or near real-time. These panels show the data timestamp.

Content that hasn't been personally verified is labelled accordingly. We don't pretend to have walked every path on the site — but we're specific about what we've verified and what comes from third-party sources.

What we don't cover, and why

OutdoorSCOT covers Scottish outdoor pursuits. We don't cover:

  • England, Wales or Ireland — not because these aren't worth covering, but because Scotland has enough depth to fill a dedicated site. We link to relevant external resources where Scottish routes cross the border.
  • Indoor climbing, gyms or organised races — these have dedicated communities and specialist resources. We cover approaches to crags and wild climbing contexts where relevant.
  • Accommodation reviews — we list accommodation near routes via third-party integrations but don't write hotel reviews. This avoids the editorial conflicts that come with accommodation advertising.
  • Tourism-board itineraries — we don't repurpose VisitScotland or council content. If a route or location is covered, it's because we have direct experience or a genuine recommendation to make.

Our position on AI-generated content

OutdoorSCOT does not publish AI-generated route descriptions, location write-ups or safety advice. The risk of plausible-sounding but inaccurate information about mountains, river crossings and remote terrain is too high.

We use AI tools for structural tasks: code generation, data processing, schema validation, and internal tooling. These uses don't affect the factual content that appears on the site. Where the site displays generated text (e.g., structured data summaries), this is clearly a data display, not editorial content.

Gary Innes writes or directly edits all editorial content. If you read a route description or practical advice section on OutdoorSCOT, a human who has spent time in that environment wrote it.

Affiliate links

OutdoorSCOT earns affiliate commissions when readers buy gear, maps or experiences through links on the site. These links are marked where required by law and/or platform convention.

Affiliate relationships do not influence editorial decisions. We don't accept payment for coverage, adjust ratings for affiliate partners, or accept free gear in exchange for positive reviews. Full details in the affiliate disclosure.

Corrections

If something on OutdoorSCOT is wrong — a parking spot that no longer exists, a path that's been rerouted, a bothy that's closed — we want to know.

Email corrections@outdoorscot.co.uk with the page URL and what needs changing. We aim to respond within 5 working days and publish corrections promptly. Substantive corrections are noted on the relevant page.

We don't remove content because it's critical of a route, location or product. We correct factual errors and update outdated information, but our opinions stay up even when they're unpopular.

Contact

For editorial queries: hello@outdoorscot.co.uk. For corrections: corrections@outdoorscot.co.uk.

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