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You have the right to access some land for walking or certain other leisure activities.

You can:

• use public roads and pavements or public rights of way, for example footpaths or bridleways
• use your right to roam on open access land including mountains, moors, heaths, downs, common land and some land around the King Charles III England Coast Path

If neither of these apply, you may still be able to access private land if:

• the land was used as a public right of way in the past - check old maps and documents
• the land was accessed by the public for at least 20 years and nobody has asked them to stop
• the landowner has given permission (鈥榩ermissive access鈥�)

You can walk on all public rights of way.

Some public rights of way are also open to horse riders, cyclists or motorists.

You can use:

• footpaths - for walking, running, mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs
• bridleways - for walking, horse riding, bicycles, mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs
• restricted byways - for any transport without a motor and mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs
• byways open to all traffic - for any kind of transport, including cars (but they鈥檙e mainly used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders)

Rights of way in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Public rights of way are marked with signs or coloured arrows, for example yellow for footpaths, blue for bridleways.

You can find the route of public rights of way:

• on Ordnance Survey and other maps
• on some council websites

Rights of way in Scotland

You can find rights of way through the charity .

Report problems with a right of way

Contact the local council to report a problem, for example obstructions, poor maintenance or a misleading sign.

Change a public right of way

Contact the local council about adding, changing or removing a public right of way temporarily or permanently.

You can contact the if you think your council has not dealt with your enquiry properly.

You can access some land across England without having to use paths - this land is known as 鈥榦pen access land鈥� or 鈥榓ccess land鈥�.

Access land includes mountains, moors, heaths and downs that are privately owned. It also includes common land registered with the local council and some land around the King Charles III England Coast Path.

Your right to access this land is called the 鈥榬ight to roam鈥�, or 鈥榝reedom to roam鈥�.

What you can and cannot do

You can use access land for walking, running, watching wildlife and climbing.聽

There are certain activities you cannot usually do on open access land, including:

• horse-riding
• cycling
• camping
• taking animals other than dogs on to the land
• driving a vehicle (except mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs)
• water sports

But you can use access land for horse-riding and cycling if:聽

• the landowner allows it
• public bridleways or byways cross the land 鈥� horse riders and cyclists can ride along these
• there are local traditions, or rights, of access

Dogs on open access land

You must keep your dog on a lead no more than 2 metres long on open access land:

• between 1 March and 31 July - to protect ground-nesting birds
• at all times around livestock

On land next to the King Charles III England Coast Path, you must keep your dog under close control.

There may be other local or seasonal restrictions. These do not apply to public rights of way or assistance dogs.

Excepted land

On access land some areas remain private (鈥榚xcepted land鈥�). You do not have the right to access these areas, even if they appear on a map of open access land.

Excepted land includes:

• houses, buildings and the land they鈥檙e on (such as courtyards)
• land used to grow crops
• building sites and land that鈥檚 being developed
• parks and gardens
• golf courses and racecourses
• railways and tramways
• working quarries

Use public rights of way to cross excepted land.

Find open-access land

and find out about land that鈥檚 currently closed to walkers.

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Contact the local council to find common land near you.

Report problems with open access land

You can report problems to the local access authority - contact them through the local council.

If the problem is in a national park, .

You can also contact the Open Access Contact Centre for information about open access land in England.

You may be able to access private land if the landowner has agreed to let people use it, for example for walking, cycling or horse riding (sometimes known as giving 鈥榩ermissive access鈥�). Look for signs.

, including land with permissive access, in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) directory.