Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW), the public can now walk freely on mapped areas of  mountain, moor, heath, down and registered land without the need to stick to paths. The new rights, for which people have been campaigning fo...
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Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW), the public can now walk freely on mapped areas of mountain, moor, heath, down and registered land without the need to stick to paths.

The new rights, for which people have been campaigning for over 100 years, came into effect across all of England on 31 October 2005.

  • If you are a member of the public and wish to find out more about how to enjoy access land and view the access land walking maps, see the Countryside Access website.
  • If you are a land owner or manager and want find out how the Act affects you and get advice on how to manage public access, go to the Open Access website.
  • Access authorities can apply for funding to support the implementation of the CROW Act through the Access Management Grant Scheme (2mb pdf).                

Other CROW projects:

  • Dedications: dedicating land for public access - research project. View more.
  • Recording other access rights: identifying land with rights of access set up before CROW. View more.
  • Mapping review project: preparation to review the conclusive maps. View more.