The Great Outdoors - UK (2021-08)

The map lined up with the

landscape in Torridon

Road (A) Thicker yellow,

orange or pink lines.

Woodland (B)Green-

shaded areas.

Right of way (C)Green

dashed line on 1:25,000

maps, or purple on

1:50,000 maps.

Footpath (D)Dashed

thin black line. May not

be a right of way.

Public track (E)Spaced

green spots.

Stream (F)Blue line.

Wall or fence (G)Solid

thin black line.

Access land (H)

In England and Wales,

marked by orange-

shaded terrain, denoting

open access.

Tarn or lake(I, J)

Enclosed blue area.

Contours
Depending on the map, contours may
be 5m, 10m or 15m apart, and marked
by pale orange or pink lines. Some
have elevation listed. “As a mountain
navigator my first priority is always
the contours,”Helen says. “If I look
at the ground first and then relate
that back to the map, rather than the
other way around, it helps me to avoid
making mistakes.”
( 1 : 50 , 000 OS map shown)

Features
“The features walkers need to be able to
identify depend on the terrain,”Helen
says. “If you’re following paths then paths
are pretty important! The other thing
you may not realise is that rights of way
will be highlighted in green, but won’t
necessarily correspond to a path unless
it’s also marked as a black dashed line.”
Features such as woods, streams
and even paths can change, leading
to map inaccuracies. “Contours are a
constant,”Helen says. “Using features in
conjunction with contours is key.If the
contours don’t fit the feature then the
feature is not correct on your map.”
( 1 : 25 , 000 OS map shown)

HILL SKILLS

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August 2021 The Great Outdoors 67