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Why the fine print matters

England and Wales are criss-crossed by an estimated 140,000 miles of public rights of way, from granite-trodden moorland tracks to hedged lanes that have been walked for centuries. That network is one of the great privileges of walking here, but it is also a patchwork of different legal statuses. What you are allowed to do on a path — and where you are allowed to wander off it — depends entirely on which category it falls into.

Get it right and you can plan a route with confidence, knowing you are somewhere you have a legal right to be. Get it wrong and you may find yourself on private land, or politely redirected by a farmer who has every right to ask you to move on. The good news is that the rules are straightforward once you know what to look for.

The four main types of right of way

Every public right of way in England and Wales falls into one of four categories. The difference is essentially about who may use it.

• Public footpath — walking only. You may walk, and take a pram, wheelchair or mobility scooter where the surface allows. No cycling, no horse riding.
• Public bridleway — walking, horse riding and cycling. Cyclists and riders must give way to walkers, and it is good manners to slow down and say hello.
• Restricted byway — walking, horse riding, cycling and horse-drawn carriages, but no motor vehicles.
• Byway open to all traffic — the rarest, and legally open to vehicles as well as walkers, riders and cyclists. In practice most are rough, muddy and best treated as bridleways with occasional 4x4s.

On all four, you have the right to pass and re-pass along the defined line of the path. You do not have the right to wander into the field beside it, however tempting the view.

Access land: the right to roam

Since the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, large areas of England and Wales are mapped as open access land — mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land. On this land you may walk anywhere you like, not just on paths, and you may also climb, run and take photographs.

That freedom comes with conditions. Access is on foot only, so no bikes or horses. Dogs must be kept on a short fixed lead between 1 March and 31 July to protect ground-nesting birds and lambs, and on a lead at all times around livestock. Some areas are closed for conservation, shooting or military training, and closures can be temporary. Where access land borders a right of way, you may stray onto it deliberately, but if you are simply following the path you are expected to stay on the line.

How to check before you set out

A little preparation saves a great deal of irritability at a locked gate. Before a walk, it is worth doing the following:

• Look at a current Ordnance Survey Explorer or Landranger map, which shows rights of way and, on Explorer maps, access land with an orange wash. Check the legend, because symbols differ between scales.
• Consult the local highway authority's definitive map and statement — the legal record of public paths, usually available through the council's online mapping. Unitary and county councils both hold these, and national park authorities can point you in the right direction.
• Check the authority's website for temporary closures and diversions, often listed as traffic regulation orders. These are common during forestry work, landslips, shooting seasons and foot-and-mouth or disease outbreaks.
• If your route crosses a military range — Dartmoor, Salisbury Plain and parts of the Brecon Beacons come to mind — check firing times and red flag warnings before setting off. Red flags mean keep out, no exceptions.
• Note whether your route uses any permissive paths, which landowners grant by goodwill rather than law. They can be closed on specific days, so treat a permissive route as a bonus, not a guarantee.

On the ground: signs, markers and obstructions

Waymarking in England and Wales uses a colour code in most counties: yellow arrows for footpaths, blue for bridleways, and purple or red for byways, though local variations exist. Discs, gates and fingerposts are usually maintained by the highway authority, and a missing sign does not mean the right of way has ceased to exist.

Obstructions are a fact of life: an overgrown stile, a locked gate, a path ploughed through and not reinstated. Paths across arable land may be ploughed, but they must be restored within a set period, and field-edge paths should not be cropped in a way that blocks them. If you meet a genuine obstruction, report it to the highway authority with a grid reference and a photograph. Meanwhile, a short, careful deviation around an obstacle is generally accepted.

Small habits that keep access open

Leave gates as you find them, keep dogs under close control, take litter home and give livestock plenty of room — especially cows with calves. Park considerately at path heads, and avoid blocking farm entrances. Follow the Countryside Code and you will rarely have trouble.

Rights of way survive on records, signposts and goodwill. Walking them respectfully, and reporting problems rather than grumbling about them, keeps the network in good order for everyone who comes after you.