Technical Difficulties

New Route Difficulties

We’re introducing a new Technical Difficulty rating for routes in OS Maps web & mobile, with four difficulty levels: Easy, Moderate, Difficult, and Severe. These will give you an indication of the experience and/or technical skill required, but not necessarily the fitness level needed.

For example a ‘Severe’ route doesn’t necessarily require high fitness – it might be a short scramble up an exposed rock face. Likewise, an ‘Easy’ route could be a 20km walk along a canal towpath – not technically difficult, even if you would have to be fairly fit to do it!

You’ll still be able to use the other route information such as distance, duration ascent, and elevation to help guide you.

How Does It Work?

We’ve put together a guide to provide an overview of what you could expect at the different levels, but you may prefer to get used to the levels by trying routes. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution when picking a route! We want everyone to enjoy safe experiences outdoors, and these technical difficulty levels are there to help you do that.

What About The Old Difficulty Ratings?

We’ve decided not to convert the old Difficulties across to the new Technical Difficulties.

Our focus is to make sure we have a difficulty rating system that our users can trust and this change is designed to help make sure all future routes are accurately graded, so there are no surprises when you're out and about! This change does mean that existing routes will not have their ratings carried over and therefore will have no difficulty rating assigned.

There are two main reasons for this:

The old scale related to fitness levels, whereas the new Technical Difficulty scale focuses on experience and/or technical skill required which means there’s no direct comparison between the two scales.
Sticking to the new system means we can remove some of the grading errors that existed in the old system and make sure each route has the correct rating.

Does This Differ To Other Grading Systems?

There are many ways of grading routes, often blending ‘fitness’ and ‘technical difficulty’. With the variations in routes and individual ability, there isn’t one perfect system. We’ve used feedback from our users and drawn on different systems to deliver a helpful guide, but of course, four levels will never capture the variety of the 2 million + routes you can find in OS Maps so always use all the information available to assess a route.

Here's How It Looks For Different Activities

Walking / Running / Hiking

	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Severe
Gradient	Generally flat	Moderate gradients	Steep ascents and descents	Very steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point	Route could be exited in around one hour	Route could be exited in a few hours	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	Generally accessible paths, surface usually paved or hardened	Narrower paths but mostly firm and stable surfaces, rocks and other obstacles may be present	Mountainous with steep, rocky sections requiring very good coordination; may involve crossing streams or marshes	Involves non-existent or unmarked trails and scrambles, technical equipment such as a rope may be required
Navigation	Well-marked paths, only basic navigation required	Paths generally well defined, signage or marking may also be present	Little signage, paths may be poorly defined; map and compass skills essential, particularly in poor weather	“Off-the-beaten-track”: extensive navigation experience using compass required

Easy

Gradient	Generally flat
Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point
Path type	Generally accessible paths, surface usually paved or hardened
Navigation	Well-marked paths, only basic navigation required

Moderate

Gradient	Moderate gradients
Remoteness	Route could be exited in around one hour
Path type	Narrower paths but mostly firm and stable surfaces, rocks and other obstacles may be present
Navigation	Paths generally well defined, signage or marking may also be present

Difficult

Gradient	Steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Route could be exited in a few hours
Path type	Mountainous with steep, rocky sections requiring very good coordination; may involve crossing streams or marshes
Navigation	Little signage, paths may be poorly defined; map and compass skills essential, particularly in poor weather

Severe

Gradient	Very steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	Involves non-existent or unmarked trails and scrambles, technical equipment such as a rope may be required
Navigation	“Off-the-beaten-track”: extensive navigation experience using compass required

Road Cycling

	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Severe
Gradient	Generally flat	Could include some steeper gradients, up to 10%	Steep descents with tight turns, up to 25%	Extremely steep ascents / descents, 25%+
Remoteness	Through built-up areas, or popular recreation areas.	Away from build up areas, but never too far from civilisation	Countryside areas away from villages	Upland or remote areas, far from any habitation
Road type	Route uses virtually traffic-free roads or cycle lanes	Mainly low capacity roads with some short sections on busier single carriageway roads	May include some sections of busier dual-carriageway roads

Easy

Gradient	Generally flat
Remoteness	Through built-up areas, or popular recreation areas.
Road type	Route uses virtually traffic-free roads or cycle lanes

Moderate

Gradient	Could include some steeper gradients, up to 10%
Remoteness	Away from build up areas, but never too far from civilisation
Road type	Mainly low capacity roads with some short sections on busier single carriageway roads

Difficult

Gradient	Steep descents with tight turns, up to 25%
Remoteness	Countryside areas away from villages
Road type	May include some sections of busier dual-carriageway roads

Severe

Gradient	Extremely steep ascents / descents, 25%+
Remoteness	Upland or remote areas, far from any habitation
Road type

Off-Road/Mixed Cycling

	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Severe
Gradient	Shallow climbs and descents	Moderate climbs, possibly including short sections of steeper climbs	A wide range of steeper, tougher climbs and descents of a challenging nature	Any rideable or usable gradient, including steep descents

Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point	Route could be exited in around one hour	Route could be exited in a few hours	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	Rail-trails, towpaths, reservoir trails, estate or forestry tracks, traffic quiet roads; smooth with minimal loose surfaces	May include bridleways, byways, un-surfaced unclassified roads and lightly trafficked lanes; mostly stoned surfaces	Any usable trail, likely to include singletrack and other technical sections	Technical trails, with unforgiving terrain, severe climbs and descents
Hazards	Generally very low risk but may include short, more difficult sections	Some loose surfaces, ruts, potholes or tree roots	Unavoidable berms, boardwalks, large stones, moderate steps and drop-offs; cambers, water crossings and 'North Shore' may be present	Unavoidable obstacles with large steps and drop-offs; prolonged steep, loose and rocky surfaces; can include exposed open hill sections and some man-made structures

Easy

Gradient	Shallow climbs and descents

Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point
Path type	Rail-trails, towpaths, reservoir trails, estate or forestry tracks, traffic quiet roads; smooth with minimal loose surfaces
Hazards	Generally very low risk but may include short, more difficult sections

Moderate

Gradient	Moderate climbs, possibly including short sections of steeper climbs

Remoteness	Route could be exited in around one hour
Path type	May include bridleways, byways, un-surfaced unclassified roads and lightly trafficked lanes; mostly stoned surfaces
Hazards	Some loose surfaces, ruts, potholes or tree roots

Difficult

Gradient	A wide range of steeper, tougher climbs and descents of a challenging nature

Remoteness	Route could be exited in a few hours
Path type	Any usable trail, likely to include singletrack and other technical sections
Hazards	Unavoidable berms, boardwalks, large stones, moderate steps and drop-offs; cambers, water crossings and 'North Shore' may be present

Severe

Gradient	Any rideable or usable gradient, including steep descents

Remoteness	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	Technical trails, with unforgiving terrain, severe climbs and descents
Hazards	Unavoidable obstacles with large steps and drop-offs; prolonged steep, loose and rocky surfaces; can include exposed open hill sections and some man-made structures

Horse Riding

	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Severe
Gradient	Generally flat	Moderate gradients	Steep ascents and descents	Very steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point	Route could be exited in an hour	Route could be exited in a few hours	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	Route uses virtually traffic-free roads, bridleways, byways or forestry tracks; wide enough to accommodate two way usage (likely to be multi-use and encounters with other users including cyclists, walkers and runners to be expected)	May include sections on some slightly busier roads and sections of single tracks	May include crossings of busy roads, and more frequent single track sections	May include sections of non-existent, narrow, unmarked trails
Obstacles	Relatively obstacle free	May include shallow fords, equine suitable bridges and gates that require opening and closing	May include river crossings and more variable surface, rocks and tree roots or stumps

Easy

Gradient	Generally flat
Remoteness	Never far from the road or an access point
Path type	Route uses virtually traffic-free roads, bridleways, byways or forestry tracks; wide enough to accommodate two way usage (likely to be multi-use and encounters with other users including cyclists, walkers and runners to be expected)
Obstacles	Relatively obstacle free

Moderate

Gradient	Moderate gradients
Remoteness	Route could be exited in an hour
Path type	May include sections on some slightly busier roads and sections of single tracks
Obstacles	May include shallow fords, equine suitable bridges and gates that require opening and closing

Difficult

Gradient	Steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Route could be exited in a few hours
Path type	May include crossings of busy roads, and more frequent single track sections
Obstacles	May include river crossings and more variable surface, rocks and tree roots or stumps

Severe

Gradient	Very steep ascents and descents
Remoteness	Upland or very remote areas far from any habitation; could take over half a day to exit the route
Path type	May include sections of non-existent, narrow, unmarked trails
Obstacles

Paddling

	Easy		Moderate		Difficult		Severe
River grade	Ungraded, easy Grade 1		Grade 1 and easy Grade 2		Harder Grade 2 and Grade 3		Grade 4+

Easy

River grade	Ungraded, easy Grade 1

Moderate

River grade	Grade 1 and easy Grade 2

Difficult

River grade	Harder Grade 2 and Grade 3

Severe

River grade	Grade 4+