What is responsible access?

Horse riders and carriage drivers can now experience a new freedom of access to land in Scotland under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. This establishes a statutory right of non-motorised responsible access to most land including moorland, forests, farmland and canal banks, and even open spaces in towns.

Your access rights and responsibilities are explained fully in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Whether you’re in the outdoors or managing the outdoors, the key things are to:

  • take responsibility for your own action
  • respect the interests of other people
  • care for the environment

Find out more by visiting www.outdooraccess-scotland.com or phoning your local Scottish Natural Heritage office.

BHS Access Guidelines

The BHS has issued guidelines on responsible access, which include the following:

Areas of Responsibility

Responsibility to Land Managers

  • Be considerate and aware
  • Do not disrupt ongoing land management operations, e.g. ploughing, tree harvesting, fertilising
  • Ride slowly past all livestock
  • Leave all gates as you find them
  • Do not enter fields where there might be animals that may be a danger to you or in danger from you
  • Leave your dog at home unless you are in total control under all circumstances
  • Get permission before jumping any hedgerows, fences, jumps, gates, walls or using custom made gallops. Repetitive schooling is excluded from the legislation
  • Do not ride on boggy, wet, soft ground or churn up surfaces on paths, tracks or fields

Responsibility to The Environment

  • Be considerate and aware
  • Don't damage surfaces by riding on ground that is wet or poorly drained
  • Don't damage hedgerows and timber by jumping
  • Don't leave a mess and take litter home
  • Be careful around historic and archaeological sites and sites of biological significance, e.g. SSSI's