Navigating Rights of Way in England and Wales

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18 Jul 2026

Navigating Rights of Way in England and Wales

Why the line on the map matters

A public right of way is not a favour granted by a landowner, and it is not a suggestion drawn on a map for walkers’ convenience. It is a highway in law, recorded on the definitive map held by the local highway authority — usually the county council or a unitary authority in Wales. That legal record, not an app or a laminated leaflet, is what decides where you may walk, ride or cycle.

Most of us meet our first footpath through an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, where green dashes mark a route across a field or through a wood. Those maps are wonderfully accurate, but the definitive map is the authority. If the two disagree, the council’s record wins.

Footpaths, bridleways and the rest of the family

England and Wales recognise four main kinds of public right of way, and the difference is about who is allowed to use them.

Public footpath — on foot only, marked with a yellow arrow. Horses and bicycles have no right here, although you will often meet them. Dogs are welcome but should be under control.
Public bridleway — on foot, on horseback, leading a horse, or on a bicycle, marked with a blue arrow. Cyclists must give way to walkers and riders.
Restricted byway — on foot, horseback or bicycle, plus horse-drawn vehicles and mobility scooters, marked with a purple arrow.
Byway open to all traffic — marked with a red arrow, and legally open to motor vehicles too, though many are little more than a rutted track.

The countryside is also stitched together by permissive paths, which a landowner allows by goodwill and can close, and by paths that have been used openly for twenty years but never recorded — those are worth researching with the local authority if you suspect a route has been lost.

Reading signs, stiles and gates

Waymark discs are your quickest guide on the ground: yellow for footpaths, blue for bridleways, purple and red as above. Fingerposts at junctions should name the destination and give a distance, though many are weathered or missing. Take a photograph of the sign at a tricky junction; it is surprisingly useful when you come back the other way.

Landowners must keep paths clear of crops and obstructions. Where a footpath crosses arable land, the line must be reinstated within fourteen days of ploughing and kept visible once the crop is growing. If you meet a stile, remember that you are entitled to cross it, and in many places a gate should be provided instead because of accessibility duties. Leave every gate as you find it — open if open, closed if closed — and never climb over a wall or fence beside a gate to save a moment.

Open access land and the right to roam

Open access land is a different creature altogether. Created largely under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, it gives a right of access on foot over mapped mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land — shown on Explorer maps in a pale wash of cream. Here you may wander off the path, sit on a rock and eat your sandwiches, or take a wide loop across the hillside.

The right is narrower than people assume. It is on foot only — no bikes, no horses. You must not camp, light fires, damage walls or disturb wildlife. Dogs are usually allowed, but on most open access land they must be on a short lead of no more than two metres between 1 March and 31 July, and around livestock at any time of year. Some areas exclude dogs entirely. Land can also be closed for up to twenty-eight days a year, so check before a long journey.

Etiquette, livestock and the Countryside Code

Walkers and landowners share a working landscape, and small courtesies go a long way. Keep to the path across private land, take litter home, and never block a gateway while you rummage for a map. Keep dogs in sight and under control, and put the lead on near sheep, cattle and ground-nesting birds.

Cattle are the encounters that unsettle people most. Cows with calves are the genuinely risky ones. Walk quietly and steadily, do not run, and if a group blocks the path, a wide, calm detour is usually the sensible answer. Where a bull of a dairy breed is present with the herd, an alternative route should be available — and if any field feels unsafe, you are entitled to take a reasonable line around the edge.

When a path is blocked or closed

Obstructions happen: a padlocked gate, a fallen tree, a hedge left to swallow a stile. The law allows you to deviate by the shortest reasonable route around an obstruction, but not to strike off across a crop or into a garden. Then report it. Every highway authority has a rights of way officer, and reporting a blockage genuinely works — councils have a duty to keep paths open and the definitive map up to date.

Temporary closures and diversions should be marked with an official notice giving dates and an alternative route. If a closure notice looks homemade, or a path has quietly vanished from the map, ask the authority. Rights of way are fragile things, and the people who walk them are often the ones who keep them alive.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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