Terms of Use

These terms govern your use of OutdoorSCOT (“the site”, “we”, “us”, “our”), available at outdoorscot.co.uk. By using the site you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

1. What OutdoorSCOT is

OutdoorSCOT is an editorial website covering outdoor activities in Scotland — hillwalking, mountain biking, wild camping, sea kayaking and related gear and planning content. We publish route guides, opinion pieces, gear reviews and interactive planning tools.

The site is free to use for personal, non-commercial purposes. We do not currently offer a paid subscription or paid service, though we reserve the right to introduce one in the future.

2. Safety, information and the limits of our advice

The most important thing on this page. Scottish hillwalking, mountain biking, wild camping, sea kayaking and winter mountaineering involve real risks of injury and death. Weather, terrain, visibility, water and wildlife can change rapidly. Our content is informational and editorial — it is not professional instruction, not a substitute for formal skills training, and not a guarantee of safety on any route or activity.

You are solely responsible for your own decisions in the outdoors. Always check the current weather forecast (for example from the Mountain Weather Information Service at mwis.org.uk), check the Scottish Avalanche Information Service at sais.gov.uk in winter, carry appropriate equipment, and know your own limits. Do not attempt winter hillwalking above the snowline without the relevant training and skills. Do not attempt sea kayaking open-water crossings without prior experience and relevant qualifications. Do not attempt red- or black-graded mountain bike trails without appropriate protective equipment.

Nothing on the site should be read as a recommendation to ignore safety equipment, training, official forecasts, landowner advice, mountain rescue guidance, or your own judgement on the day. If conditions feel beyond your ability, turn back.

To the fullest extent permitted by Scots law, OutdoorSCOT excludes all liability for any loss, injury, damage or expense arising out of or in connection with your use of the information on the site. This exclusion does not apply where liability cannot legally be excluded — including death or personal injury caused by our own negligence, and fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

3. Accuracy of information

We make a genuine effort to keep content accurate and up to date. Hill heights, distances, grid references and route information are verified against Ordnance Survey mapping and the Database of British and Irish Hills at the time of publication. Product recommendations and prices are based on publicly available information at the time of writing. Trail centre facilities, accommodation and transport information are subject to change without notice.

Despite our best efforts, some information will become out of date and some will contain errors. If you spot an error, please let us know via the contact page — we'll fix it as soon as we can. We do not guarantee that any specific piece of information is current, complete or error-free.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the site for any unlawful purpose or in any way that breaches these terms
• Copy, scrape, republish or redistribute substantial portions of our content without our written permission
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the site, our servers, or any connected Supabase database
• Interfere with the proper functioning of the site, including by submitting malicious code, spam, or automated bulk requests
• Use our content or data to train commercial AI models without explicit written permission
• Impersonate OutdoorSCOT or any of its staff or contributors

5. Intellectual property

All editorial content on OutdoorSCOT — articles, photographs, route descriptions, opinion pieces and interactive tools — is the intellectual property of OutdoorSCOT and its contributors unless otherwise stated. You are welcome to read, share, and link to content on the site.

You may quote short extracts from our articles for personal reference, study or criticism under standard fair dealing principles, provided you credit OutdoorSCOT and link to the original article.

You may not reproduce entire articles, republish our content on other sites, or use our images or route data for commercial purposes without prior written permission.

Hill data sourced from the Database of British and Irish Hills is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence — we credit the source accordingly. Trail centre data sourced from Forestry and Land Scotland is publicly available information.

6. Affiliate links and third-party services

OutdoorSCOT contains affiliate links to retailers including Tiso, Cotswold Outdoor, Amazon, Ordnance Survey and others. When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, the retailer may share commission with us at no extra cost to you. This does not influence our editorial recommendations — see our affiliate disclosure for the full policy.

The site links to third-party services including Ordnance Survey, NatureScot, Mountaineering Scotland, Scottish Mountain Rescue, the Mountain Bothies Association, Forestry and Land Scotland, the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, and various accommodation providers and retailers. We are not responsible for the content or policies of those third-party sites.

7. User accounts and user-generated content

Some features of the site (such as the forthcoming Hill Tracker) require a free account. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity on your account. Delete your account at any time by emailing privacy@outdoorscot.co.uk.

If the site allows user-submitted content in the future — trip reports, reviews, photographs — you grant OutdoorSCOT a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, edit and display that content on the site. You retain ownership of your own submissions. You warrant that anything you submit is your own original work and does not infringe any third-party rights.

8. Privacy and cookies

Our privacy policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under UK GDPR. Using the site constitutes acceptance of the privacy policy as well as these terms.

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time to reflect changes to the site, the law, or our operations. The “last updated” date at the top of this page always reflects the latest version. Material changes will be noted on the homepage or via the newsletter. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

10. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the law of Scotland. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with the site or these terms is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.

11. Contact

For questions about these terms, email hello@outdoorscot.co.uk. For privacy-specific questions, email privacy@outdoorscot.co.uk.