Providing Expeditions

Somerset County Council’s Rights of Way Service looks after nearly 4,000 miles of footpaths, bridleways and byways – exactly the help that you need as you explore this wonderful county.

This is the equivalent of a footpath from London to Chicago, with 748 miles in West Somerset, 844 miles in Mendip, 608 miles in Sedgemoor, 1,079 miles in South Somerset and 525 miles in Taunton Deane.

The Rights of Way network is key to giving everyone access to the countryside and its sheer size means that the beaten path is never far away from any Somerset community. As well as bringing a great deal of pleasure to many thousands of people, it supports local business, contributes to public health and fitness and encourages environmental awareness.

Somerset County Council’s work to improve this access through its Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP) was recently recognised as ‘Excellent’ by Natural England.

The last 12 months have seen many projects completed across Somerset and the proportion of the network considered “easy to use” has doubled to nearly 70 per cent over the last five years.