Scotland's Bothies

In a world before Instagram and Facebook forums, an aura of secrecy surrounded Scotland’s unique network of mountain shelters, prized locations only shared once a trusting bond had been forged in the flickering light of a bothy fire. Today there is a healthy free-flow of information, and bothies have caught the collective imagination. Located in some of the wildest and most picturesque locations in the country, a classic overnight bothy trip should be on any discerning adventurer’s bucket list. The best bothies are almost like hostels, with a well drawing fire or stove, platform beds to sleep on, and in some cases even a supply of seasoned wood or peat to burn.

Scotland’s bothies are a loose collection of shepherd’s cottages, estate houses and abandoned crofts that have been saved from ruin and renovated. The term bothy derives from the Gaelic bothan (via the Old Irish both) meaning hut, and originally described rough and ready accommodation provided by landowners for farm labourers or estate workers. More recently, though, the term has become synonymous with an idea of sanctuary and shelter. The driving force behind the creation of the current bothy network is the Mountain Bothies Association. The organisation’s volunteers have successfully rebuilt and maintained over 80 bothies in Scotland, and another 21 elsewhere in the UK. Bothies come in many shapes and sizes, but the most common configuration is the classic two-roomed cottage referred to by the Scots term, but and ben; ‘but’ referring to the kitchen and living room, and the ‘ben’ the bedroom. Freely available for anyone to use as a lunch stop, or to stay in overnight, bothies have been beloved by mountaineers and stravaigers for well over a hundred years, becoming an integral feature of Scottish outdoor culture.