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Do we degrade wild land by making it easier to visit? What's the right balance between conservation and access, and if paths encourage people to come then might that actually be a good thing? Robert Boughen considers the legacy of John Muir, and the philosophy of path-making.

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A nice read. There is an important argument to be made for building paths, but the article does not consider it as thoughtfully as it could..

Where is this argument leading? And is it sufficient to address this:

With this?

To quote another great champion of life outdoors, Henry Thoreau: “ You never gain something, but you lose something. “

A deeper consideration of what we gain and lose by building paths through open country would be welcome.

Interesting read, I am all in favour of traditional path building where people are already walking, to prevent/minimise erosion. Extending that agenda to pathing previously unpathed land in order to encourage people to access more remote areas without having fitness or navigation skills is madness. I expect and hope that that is not entirely what the author meant, although your first quote sounds exactly like that is the goal and the article makes very little reference to preventing erosion as a reason to build paths.

We do not have many areas in the UK which require "remarkable" levels of fitness or navigation. Most unfit and inexperienced people could get to a level they would be safe and competent almost anywhere in the UK in a very short space of time. 

Corrour in particular is an interesting choice, it strikes me as somewhere that doesn't need any more paths or ATV tracks!

Perhaps the decent path from the half way lochan to the Allt a' Mhulinn bridge could be finished off first, I'd suggest with a zip wire which will preserve the ground underfoot in it's natural form and remove the problem of boot erosion completely!

A  well made path can bring its' own problems.

How many of us have met people on such paths in mountainous areas who are completely unprepared for what they might encounter as they get further from the road - whether this be regarding clothing or competence.

The worst examples I have seen include a woman walking down the Nevis path barefoot, carrying a plastic bag in one hand and her high-heeled sandal-type shoes in the other. It was July, but there was snow on the top, and she was (when I saw her) just below where it was snowing.

Then there was the couple in Glen Coe, with two very small children who had gone a couple of miles along a signposted path, presumably in the belief that a waymarked path in the Western Highlands was just as safe for their little ones as one in the Home Counties. The weather was turning, and even though I personally was prepared, a period drying off and warming through at the Clachaig was required. I did hang around and make sure this other party had made it to within a short distance of their car before moving off.

I do wonder just how many callouts the MRT's have down to novices being enticed into the hills by nice paths, that take them to a point in the hills where the elements and temperature can turn nasty far too quickly, and far beyond their ability and clothing can cope.

I have thought that maybe the first 100 metres or so from the road ought to be left "unmade", in order that only persons who are suitably shod (and prepared) actually set off from the road, and those who aren't don't get in above their heads.