Technical difficulty

We have classified our walks in accordance with our interpretation of the Ordnance Survey technical difficulty guidance

	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Severe
Elevation	Generally flat	Moderate gradients	Steep ascents and decents	Very steep ascents and decents
Location	Never far from the road / an access point	Route could be exited in around one hour	Route could be exited in a few hours	Upland/very remote areas, far from any habitation. Could take half a day or more to exit parts of the route.
Path type	Generally accessible paths, surface usually paved or hardened	Narrower paths and slightly more technical, although mostly firm and stable surfaces. Rocks and other obstacles may be present.	Mountainous. Steeper sections with rocky surfaces that require very good coordination. Could involve crossing streams or marshes.	Mainly non-existent, narrow, unmarked trails that require a lot of technical 'off-the-beaten-track' hiking and scrambling. Technical equipment, e.g. a rope, may be required.
Navigation required	Well-marked paths, only basic navigation required	Paths generally well defined, signage / marking may also be present	Little signage, paths may be poorly defined. Familiarity with map and compass navigation needed, particularly in poor weather.	'Off-the-beaten-track', extensive navigation experience using compass required

	Easy	Moderate
Elevation	Generally flat	Moderate gradients
Location	Never far from the road / an access point	Route could be exited in around one hour
Path type	Generally accessible paths, surface usually paved or hardened	Narrower paths and slightly more technical, although mostly firm and stable surfaces. Rocks and other obstacles may be present.
Navigation required	Well-marked paths, only basic navigation required	Paths generally well defined, signage / marking may also be present

	Difficult	Severe
Elevation	Steep ascents and decents	Very steep ascents and decents
Location	Route could be exited in a few hours	Upland/very remote areas, far from any habitation. Could take half a day or more to exit parts of the route.
Path type	Mountainous. Steeper sections with rocky surfaces that require very good coordination. Could involve crossing streams or marshes.	Mainly non-existent, narrow, unmarked trails that require a lot of technical 'off-the-beaten-track' hiking and scrambling. Technical equipment, e.g. a rope, may be required.
Navigation required	Little signage, paths may be poorly defined. Familiarity with map and compass navigation needed, particularly in poor weather.	'Off-the-beaten-track', extensive navigation experience using compass required