Scotland- wild camps and bothy trips

Our long distance backpacking trips have mostly been abroad- USA, Canada, Alaska, Nepal, Alps/Dolomites, Norway- and even England with the ‘Coast to Coast’ and parts of the South West Coast Path. In Scotland, with only a few exceptions, we tend to have spent our overnighters as weekend trips at 1-3 nights at a time. We have a particular attraction to camping on or near hill summits, with the winter solstice being a specific love and challenge given typical harsh Scottish weather conditions and the minimal amount of daylight around December 21st!

Summits in Scotland are relatively easy to reach and often afford decent, dry camping spots with short cropped vegetation- as long as you are prepared to hunt around a bit. The views can be panoramic and fantastic with the special light you can get at sunset and sunrise.

We have mostly used a 3 season tent, the Terra Nova Superlite Voyager (the best compromise we have found between robustness, roominess for 2 and lightweight at 1.4kg, but now see that Terra Nova no longer sell these) and occasionally its more robust and heavier sibling the Terra Nova Quasar for wild conditions.

The map below is a compilation of where we have wild camped in Scotland, along with bothies we have stayed in. Lots to go at still!

Click picture for interactive map
An Cladach Bothy on Islay
Cul Mor, Assynt
Shelterstone, Cairngorms
Sgur Mhaoraich looking out across Knoydart
Ski tour and camp just north of Ben Macdui summit, Cairngorms

Back to Scotland

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