From coastal walks to mountain adventures, INOV8 ambassador Nic Hardy has listed eight of her favourite long-distance hiking trails in the UK.
Fresh from completing the 84-mile Norfolk Coast Path in four days this February – a hike she used to test-run the brand new INOV8 ROCLITE G 345 GTX V2 boots – the prolific hiker has compiled a list that will no doubt inspire future adventures for many people.
1. Norfolk Coast Path
Distance: 84 miles
Ascent: 450m
Best for: Wildlife spotting, including seals at Horsey Gap
Fresh air, sandy beaches, rugged coastline, tasty bakeries, wildlife encounters – there was so much to love about this trail. It was my first big walk of 2023 and it has lit a fire of passion within me to get out and hike more long-distance trails this year. I’d never previously really explored Norfolk and I feel like it’s somewhat off-the-radar for UK outdoor enthusiasts, but it was a pleasant surprise. The trail starts in Hunstanton and finishes in Hopton-on-Sea, and en-route takes in Norfolk’s beautiful scenery including rolling fields, sea cliffs and lovely beaches, a mixture of shingle and sand. The chance to spot seals, seabirds and various marine life is the main highlight.
2. South West Coast Path
Distance: 630 miles
Ascent: 35,000m
Best for: Epic coastal scenery
This one is high up on my bucket list. Partly because it’s the setting of the heart-warming (and heart-breaking) outdoor book The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (one of my favourite reads), but also because it’s an iconic trail posing a big challenge. The distance is tough, involving up to two months of non-stop hiking, and the coastal scenery is spectacular. Stretching over 1,000km from Somerset to Dorset, sticking to the coastal edge of south-west England, this route is the longest national trial in the country.
3. Galloway Ring Of Fire
Distance: 45 miles
Ascent: 4,000m ascent
Best for: Stargazing
This route is southern Scotland’s answer to the iconic Ramsay Round mountain challenge further north. Originally designed as an ultra-running challenge – 30 summits, 45 miles and 13,000ft, all to be completed in 24 hours – the Galloway Ring of Fire is a hardcore undertaking across remote, pathless backcountry. The terrain is energy-sapping and ankle-jarring, and the miles are hard-won. But the reward easily justifies the effort, for Galloway delivers a palpable sense of far-flung, cut-off isolation and wilderness now lacking in many of the UK’s national parks. Along the way, you’ll tick off 21 Donalds (hills over 2,000ft in the Scottish lowlands), spend two nights under Galloway’s famed night skies (it’s a designated International Dark Sky Park), and bag the iconic Merrick.
4. Sutherland Trail
Distance: 70 miles
Ascent: 3,600m ascent
Best for: Exploring a remote wilderness
When I speak of the Sutherland Trail, not many people recognise it, but it’s incredible. I walked it with my partner James in April 2023 in largely sun-drenched conditions, taking 7 days and wild camping for all but one of those. The hike is inspired by the book The Sutherland Trail – A journey through north-west Scotland by Cameron McNeish and Richard Else. The standard route is 70-miles from Lochinver to Kyle of Tongue. It can be extended to include iconic Scottish mountains including Suilven, Canisp, Arkle, Foinaven, Ben Loyal, Ben More Assynt and Ben Hope. It is very remote and off-grid, and the landscape is really unique (fjord-like coastal views, big epic mountains piercing out of nowhere, solitary and surrounded by flat plains). The route also includes the highest waterfall in the UK, the prettiest lochs, and such rich scenery. In ‘normal’ conditions, it could be a truly rugged and harsh undertaking, but we were blessed with lots of sunshine.
5. Isle Of Anglesey Coast Path
Distance: 130 miles
Ascent: 3,500m
Best for: Beaches, ice cream, cafes
There is something wonderful about a circular walk – it gives you a sense of completeness and wholeness and (well) going full circle. Complete a circular walk around an entire island and that sensation is amplified even further. The Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path starts and finishes in Holyhead and circumnavigates the isle’s coastline, passing through farmland, coastal heath, dunes, salt-marsh, cliffs and woodland. I walked this route during a roasting heatwave in 2022 and I have great memories of downing cans on fizzy pop and eating Mr Whippy ice creams while walking around the sun-drenched coastline.
6. Cumbria Way
Distance: 70 miles
Ascent: 3,000m
Best for: World class Lake District landscapes
The Cumbria Way is a 73-mile walk through (obviously) Cumbria and the heart of the Lake District. It journeys the length of the county, starting from the quirky market town of Ulverston in the south to the city of Carlisle in the north, via Coniston, Great Langdale, Keswick and Caldbeck. Devised by local Ramblers groups in the 1970s, the official Cumbria Way route is predominantly a low-level, flat walk. Along the way you’ll see so much of the Lake District’s charm and beauty in just a few days. Think wobbly dry-stone walls, cute-faced Herdwick sheep, sweeping mountain ridges, jaw-dropping cliffs and crags, towering peaks, tumbling streams and glistening lakes. My friends and I have promised ourselves we’ll walk the route four times in our lifetime in order to experience the trail in different conditions – once in spring, again in the summer, then the autumn and finally winter.
7. South Downs Way
Distance: 100 miles
Ascent: 4,000m
Best for: First time multi-day hikers
From Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east, the South Downs Way has National Trail status in the UK and it is a brilliant option for those looking for their first ever multi-day long distance walk. The 100-mile trail is well signposted, there are handy taps along the route to top up your water bottles. There is also an abundance of towns and villages along the way in which to find accommodation or food. It’s an undulating walk along ridges and stunning chalk escarpments of the South Downs national park and the highlight is the Seven Sisters cliffs which tower above vivid blue waters.
8. Create Your Own!
Distance: As little or as long as you want
Ascent: Ditto
Best for: Being unique
“I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people’s routes: there is no end to the possibilities of originality and initiative.” So wrote Alfred Wainwright in 1972 in A Coast to Coast Walk – and maybe we should all follow his advice. I did so in 2020, designing a route from my birthplace in Sheffield to my new home in Cockermouth, Cumbria. I called the adventure ‘Walk Home 2020’ and it felt like a personal, intimate and meaningful journey. Could you do something similar?
You can find these routes and more over on Nic’s komoot profile.
