Hi there
I am responsible for the E-paths in Europe on behalf of the European Hiking Federation (formerly the European Ramblers Association). Additionally, I oversee E-path E2, which runs through the GB.
In 2025, we extended the E2 into Scotland, see Explore the E2 E-path in Great Britain with ERA , following many existing trails.
Can I ask someone here to mark the E2 on OSM, so it will be correct.
Thanks a lot.
Steen Kobberø-Hansen
steenkobberoe@gmail.com
steenkobberoe.dk
https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/4515206 claims to be the E2 in Scotland.
Is there a problem with the route of that portion, or has it been moved or extended beyond that, or something else?
Edit: From reading the linked verbiage, it seems that OSM is missing a section between John O Groats and “close to Traquir House”. Some at least are on existing trails, but it is not obvious that all are.
Presumably there is some data somewhere with some locations that are on the missing route? That would help people verify what they add and in some cases choose which of some alternatives should be included.
The current route consists as a relation of relations already in OSM - it would make sense to me to do the same where possible (splitting existing OSM relations if needed).
Edit 2: I notice that someone’s already on top of this - see this changeset (“Split Pentland Way into multiple route segments to later add segment into E2 route”).
Hi! What surprises me, in contrast with Eurovelo routes, is that your federation does not publish reference geometries for routes. Asking us to add parts of E2 is opening the door to a lot of guesswork.
Hello again
Relation 4515206 continues towards Ireland, which is correct.
But we have no superroute for E2 that continues from John O’Groats.
According to https://www.era-ewv-ferp.org/e2-in-great-britain/ the E2 shall follow these routes:
From John o’Groats
John o’Groats to Inverness: John o’Groats Trail jogt.org.uk/
Inverness to Fort William: Great Glen Way highland.gov.uk/greatglenway/
Fort William to the junction with the John Muir Way near Strathblane: West Highland Way westhighlandway.org/
Strathblane to Edinburgh: John Muir Way johnmuirway.org/
Edinburgh to Currie: Water of Leith Walkway waterofleith.org.uk/walkway/
Currie to Glencorse Reservoir: Pentland Way E2 Link pentlandfriends.org.uk/the-pentland-way/
Glencorse Reservoir to West Linton: Pentland Way pentlandfriends.org.uk/the-pentland-way/
West Linton to Traquair: Cross Borders Drove Road ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/?i=1494
Thanks, and yes. ERA does not own the data of E-paths - as EuroVelo does - as our member organisations own the data. ERA owns the brand of the E-paths and coordinates across countries and regions.
Though ERA has a set of rules, which may be seen at: https://usercontent.one/wp/www.era-ewv-ferp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/E-paths-Decisionsheet.pdf?media=1765555103
Best regards
Who is your member organisation in Scotland?
Also - will the route north be signed as E2?
Obviously @Fgjgdrou is working on some of this already so coordination with them makes sense.
Our member organisations in Scotland are: Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) and Ramblers.
The E2 will be signed - over time - in Scotland. LDWA is presently working on it in England.
If someone already worked on it, it is very fine. If @Fgjgdrou needs some information from us, @Fgjgdrou is welcome to contact me by email steenkobberoe@gmail.com. Also, I have contacts in LDWA, who may support with information.
Best regards and thanks.
Hello,
I have been working on and off on this for a bit of time now, and I should have a Traquair - John O’Groats E2 superroute relation completed by the end of January (probably by the 20th though), as I have enough time to sit down for a few continuous hours to edit relation members coming up (1 more of the constituent routes to edit, and the overall superroute). When I started I thought it wouldn’t take so long as it ultimately will have, but as I’m sure you can appreciate it can take longer than expected.
I will update here when I have completed this.
@steenkobberoe thank you for your offer, I think I will be fine, but I will reach out if I need any info!
Hello again all.
I have now finished creating the E2 route relation from Traquair to John o’Groats.
Here is the route on Waymarked Trails: Waymarked Trails - Hiking
And here is a link to the OSM relation: Relation: European long distance path E2 north (20116004) | OpenStreetMap
Those using Waymarked Trails will notice a few faults, that is mostly due to the Great Glen Way (which I have not touched as far as I can recall), so I might feel like fixing it in a few months (unless if someone else gets to it first). Other than that, there are 2 discontinuities because the West Highland Way does not quite meet with the Great Glen Way, and the Great Glen Way does not quite meet with the John o’Groats trail (at least as mapped).
On the overall route, currently, there are 2 main relations for the E2 route, a west relation, and an east relation. I haven’t touched those 2 relations in this editing, just rather created a new relation for the northern segment. How this should all be handled now is somewhat up for question. My view is that each segment should be its own relation, which can then be used by as different elements of 4 overall route relations. However I think I need a break for a while as for the observant may notice that I use iD for this, which can be somewhat painful at times, though I enjoy it.