My Dad is doing a long hike in the Sahara Desert in early 2026 (7 miles per day out and back from a base camp in the desert each day for 4 days).

He keeps relatively fit however is soon to begin ramping up his fitness and starting a training programme to get to the level required to take on such a challenge.

I’m (32m) a keen hiker myself and out twice daily with my 2yo Labrador who loves big walks too (obviously). I’d like to think I understand how challenging certain distances are doing so much walking myself but 7 mile per day in the heat and sand sounds very strenuous to even a seasoned hiker.

I want to support my Dad on this journey along with supporting the charity close to his heart in which he is raising the funds for.

So, any suggestions on training and best approach to such a feat would be great.

He also needs to get some proper kit. He has been provided a list and needs to pack light but within reason. Any suggestions on trekking poles, hats, gaiters, gloves, clothing or anything else that would be of benefit whilst hiking in such hot, dry temperatures?

TIA

I’m quite new to hiking, walked from the Sheffield City Centre to Stanage Edge and back the other day and really enjoyed it.

Just wanted some tips on how to find routes that are realistic and what sort of equipment is best to take? I don’t have a car so public transport or walking are the options available!

And also is it possible to hike for a day and just set up shop and camp for the night then go again the day after?

Any help is much appreciated.

I'm looking ahead to next year and want to try and get a couple of multi-day hikes in and want to get some inspiration for trips where I can camp each night at campsites, I'm not wanting to wild camp for these. Ideally England and Wales, Scotland is just a bit far but I do want to do the WHW at some point. Anything from 2-3 day trips through to week+ trips, ideally either circular or easily accessible by public transport. What are your favourites or hikes you just can't wait to do?

Hello, will be visiting from the US and I am looking for a recommendation on which hike to do. My wife and I have up to 2 weeks to complete if needed. Looking for something not extremely strenuous. We would like to spend our nights in an accommodation rather than camping. Our biggest want is nice scenery. It seems like the two hikes I mentioned above would suit what we are looking for. Any recommendations are appreciated.

Hi. I'm wondering what people's views are on hi tec walking shoes. I have bought about 4 pairs of their waterproof rav walking shoes over the last 3 or 4 years. They are incredibly comfortable and they are effectively the only pair of shoes I wear. I don't do loads of walking. Less than a mile a day most days - just walking a small dog - and the shoes last me 9 months to a year perhaps before wearing out. I'm wondering if people think there is a brand that will last longer?... I just like the fact they are v comfortable and waterproof....

Hi,

Looking for some help finding a jacket.

Specifically a waterproof and insulated jacket.

It’ll be my daily throw on jacket for most of the year for hikes, dog walks, playing at the park with my daughter and running to the shops etc.

I’ve been using a North Face Quest Insulated jacket but have worn through 3 of these in less than 5 years. Something with more longevity would be preferable.

I’ve looked at the Arc’teryx Ralle and Therme Parkas but the price point is a bit sore. Can anyone recommend a direct alternative to these types or does it not exist?

I already have a North Face Shell jacket and a Patagonia down sweater but it’s often an inconvenience to carry 2 jackets or to have to put on and take off 2 jackets.

I'm currently in the market for some gaiters mostly to be used when hiking in winter through deep snow. I have tried looking through this page for some suggestions but haven't really found any. I currently just wear boots and waterproof trousers but it stops the snow to some extent, however, I still get some snow in my boot which isn't ideal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you for your time.

I'm lucky enough to live on the edge of the peak district, so I take the dog up a modest peak every day. As I've got older, I've thought I should try and do a bit more to keep the place tidy, so I take a bag with me and pick up and rubbish as I go.

Yesterday, I got to the top and saw a tub stuffed in a bush, went over to take a look and found a container for some ashes. Don't suppose it's unusual to scatter ashes at a beauty spot, and I won't judge too much as I'm sure it wasn't the easiest of days for whomever took it up there.

Got me thinking though, what's the weirdest thing you've found whilst out in the countryside?

Hi all looking for some advice. Currently I used my Outdoor Research Foray II rain shell as a windbreaker on blowy mountain days however this has led to the DWR coating being rubbed off over the shouldersand back, also being a hardshell it can get pretty clammy inside. I'm looking for a shoftshell to wear when the wind it up, just to take the edge off. I have some decent midlayers hoodies but the wind cuts straight though them.

How do the Rab Borealis and Rab VR Alpine Light perform for this role? My worry is they would be too breathable and let the wind through.

Hello! First post here and just wanted to know is the Long Mynd and Ratlinghope Walk safe to walk in the winter? I mean of course if weather permits but generally. Also if there are any recommendations or advice that would help lots.

I might get flak for this but this is also my first hike in the UK, i've been hiking before but nothing serious (Victoria Peak/Dragon's Back in Hong Kong) and I know Long Mynd is a more advanced trail but just wanted to have something a little more challenging.

tldr: somewhat beginner level hiker, want to know if Long Mynd is too challenging or unsafe to hike in the winter.

Is there any particular advantage to walking the SW Coast Path anti-clockwise, as most people seem to do?

Logistically it would be easier for me to start in Poole I think. But if there's a reason not to I'll rethink.

Inspired by a few recent posts on here, I thought it might be worth going into some details about OpenStreetMap, and the way it drives most of the hiking and other outdoor maps out there.

Komoot? OpenStreetMap. AllTrails? OpenStreetMap. TrailForks? OpenStreetMap. Strava? OpenStreetMap. Ordnance Survey? Surprisingly enough, partly OpenStreetMap.

So what is OpenStreetMap? It's a crowdsourced data set, can think about it as Wikipedia for mapping. Anyone can edit it, add features and improve the full set. That means that it comes with the same caveats as Wikipedia in terms of content though. If someone edits a Wikipedia article to say that Salomon boots are now owned by Sports Direct, that wouldn't mean it's true, and the first person to read it would likely edit the entry to reflect reality. A smaller brand though? That might stay wrong for a while. Think of this as the difference between the Thames Path and a local ad hoc path. If someone got something wrong on the Thames Path, someone will edit it. If someone got something wrong on a desire path or a permissive walkway in a woodland? Could take a while.

Easiest way to look at this is to compare the OpenStreetMap editing view to screenshots from each of the services. This'll help you understand how they're filtering the data, and how much they're aligned.

OpenStreetMap

Ordnance Survey Free

Strava

Trailforks

AllTrails

Komoot

One of the things to notice is that Ordnance Survey and Trail Forks aren't showing some of these tracks. This is going to be down to the filtering - Trail Forks is a cycling focussed site/app, so they're restricting to those which are relevant for them. The more interesting one is that Ordnance Survey is missing the diagonal path from the estate buildings. The reason that's interesting is because that's a public footpath, here's Surrey Council's Interactive Map:

Surrey Council Interactive Map

Let's look at this path in detail on OpenStreetMap, and use this as an opportunity to see what kind of information you can get from there.

OSM Way Details

What you can see is the amount of information that's available from OpenStreetMap. What do we know about this path? We can tell the surface, that it's a footpath, that it's part of the Mole Gap Trail and the Leith Hill Greenway, and it's used for the Mole Valley parkrun. This is only part of what can be set though. Let's look at the editing interface.

OpenStreetMap Editing 1

Open Street Map Edit 2

From this you can see the extra info that can be added, and where things like the AllTrails private tags are coming from. My suspicion is that Ordnance Survey are filtering on the feature type, and that's why this particular way isn't showing there, despite being an actual public right of way. The other ways are set as path. I can't be sure on this though, so I'm not going to edit the feature type. This is part of why I'd always recommend using an app which shows all of the Open Street Map data when you're navigating using it (personally, I love OSMAnd).

What I can reliably do is add FP 32 as the common name, and edit the one on the left of the screen shot from Fp 35 to FP 35. Because it's a wiki style platform, anyone can see that edit here.

What's the point of all this? Anyone can edit Open Street Map if they spot something wrong, you can edit Open Street Map if you spot something wrong. There's a fair few regular post theme on here where that's what needs to happen.

• Why did I get routed down a private farm road? Edit the way to set foot as 'private'.
• Why is this footpath missing off the map? Add it to the map.
• Why's a dangerous non-existent path marked in open access mountain land? Remove it from the map.

Open Street Map is as good as what goes into it. A lot of apps don't make it clear where they are sourcing their data from, and that means that people don't realise that they have the ability to fix a problem.

There's a beginner's guide on Open Street Map here.

Edit: Adding Ordnance Survey Explorer/Landranger screenshots for completeness.

Ordnance Survey Explorer

Ordnance Survey Landranger

Hey so i was gonna ask for some actual walking boots for my xmas and I want to get a half decent pair but obviously not super expensive, was looking at these but not sure if this is as good a deal as it seems like? https://www.mandmdirect.com/01/details/QW1450/Trespass-Mens-Finley-Mid-Waterproof-Hiking-Boots-Black-Golden-Brown?aff

Kinda seems too good to be true with how much money off there is. Has anyone worn these or recommend any others? Definitely does need to be waterproof I think since we're in Scotland

I’m wanting to do some walking in snowdonia when there’s been some decent snow. Where’s the best place to check to see what the weather/snow conditions are in the mountains?

I was looking at reviews the other day of the rab downpour eco pants, and checked reviews on about 7 different stores. 6 of them had almost all great reviews (4 or 5 out of 5) but on gooutdoors they have only have (multiple) 1 star reviews.

All the other sites with customer reviews say they are very waterproof but every single review on G.O say they leak like a sieve

I've noticed a couple other items on there that also have very bad reviews but other sites rate them highly.

Do they sell lower quality versions of the same items, like a lot of outlets or tkmaxx etc do?

Also, If anyone uses the rab downpour eco pants, let me know what you think of them in terms of waterproofing.

I own some heavier Berghaus wp pants that are good for colder months but for 3 season/just in case options I'm interested in the rabs.

Thanks!

Hey everyone! Haven’t done any winter hiking before but i’ve bagged a couple wainwrights, moels and peaks! I’m looking at doing Cadair Idris this weekend but I wanna check what sort of equipment I might be needing! Do we think crampons would be necessary? The lowest temp at the peak this weekend i’ve looked at is going to be -1. Not sure what to expect and looking for any/all input!!

Just off the phone to the police.

I am not going to say where this happened, but it is on one of the routes I used once or twice a week to walk my dogs.

As soon as a stepped onto the field (on a marked footpath) the laser sight was pointed at my head. It was then pointed at both my dogs in turn, before cycling back to my head again. It stopped the moment I got to the other side of the field and onto the next landowners property. I heard shooting as I got about 3 mins from the field.

I am very shaken up and really do not know what to think. I have been spoken to by the farmer in the spring, when he asked me to keep my dogs on lead, so I have always done just that. I do not understand why he could not have just spoken to me - I would have used another route if he really wanted me to.

What ultimately annoys me, is that he will get exactly what he wants by being a bully. I cannot walk that route again, knowing the farmer is prepared to aim a gun at my head. It would be stupid. Hopefully the police actually take it seriously.

Any reassurance would be welcome.

Hi all,

I've recently noticed that when creating a route, (not in a National Park, just your run of the mill rural areas), using the 'Snap to Path' function, that OS is now creating routes that do not follow public rights of way.

I've just created a nice little 15miler for tomorrow through my local countryside and at three points a path has been created between waypoints that I know go through private land where landowners are active in deterring any members of the public.

The paths that OS have suggested all 'exist' on the ground, but they are not PROWs, (nor permissive pathways).

Originally the 'snap to path' function only worked in National Parks. Then, a year or more ago, it was extended to follow all PROWs, which was fantastic.

However, now it has started creating routes using non PROWs... which is going to be a problem.

So, does anyone know why this is happening?

Have I woken up in a wonderful alternative universe, (which is unilkely), or have I just missed the news that a monumental 'right to roam' has been passed into law, (which is even more unlikely!)?

n.b. Attached is a screenshot of Hoades Wood, a mile North east of Sturry in Kent. These woods have been subject to legal challenges regarding public access and the outcome was that, indeed, no public access rights exist. The woods are privately owned and have (legitimate, as per the court rulings), signs displayed at points saying to Keep Out. However, as you can see, OS creates routes that take walkers through these woods. I know first-hand that the landowners will aggressively challenge walkers on their private pathways.

https://preview.redd.it/nzwqt2vq616e1.jpg?width=1186&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1eff1d8389a3cc0a88edd34e5e41049870d62465

I just moved back to the UK with my Canadian boyfriend and would like to get him a book of UK walks/hikes for Christmas. We don't have a car yet so ideally the walks would be accessible by public transport. We are based in the South West, near Bristol. Does anyone have any recommendations for good books? Thanks!

Hi guys, I'm going to be staying near Porthmadog in Northern Wales for 5 days over December/January with partner and some friends. Would love to see the best of Eryri NP and perhaps some beautiful coastline. We like challenging hikes and have proper winter gear. Can anyone recommend any must-do hikes while we are there? Ideally would like to get up the top of Snowdon itself too, but there's quite a few routes so would love some recs on that too. TIA