Explorers Hill Walking Activity Badge
Explorers Hill Walking Activity Badge
Exploring the hills can be an exciting challenge, but preparation, safety, and care for the environment are key. Through research, hands-on experience, and creative planning, you’ll build confidence in navigating and protecting these landscapes.
Complete your Hill Walking badge
Take part in at least two journeys in terrain 2* areas.
An appropriately qualified person must accompany or supervise the journeys.
Your journeys should have a defined purpose, like reaching a summit or completing a trail – so not just walking some distance.
Complete 3 Activities. You Could:
- Discover - Research how to prepare for a multi-day hillwalking expedition in terrain one or two.
You could visit an outdoor shop or speak to a mountain rescue volunteer to learn about kit choices, route planning, and emergency procedures. - Experience - Take part in a hill walk in terrain one or two, contributing to navigation, pacing, and group decision-making.
Use a map and compass to lead a section of the route and reflect on how your choices affected the group’s progress and safety. - Mobilise - Join a conservation or access-focused activity during a hill or mountain day.
This could include repairing footpaths, removing invasive species, or supporting habitat restoration with a local organisation. - Solve - Create and act out realistic emergency scenarios in a hill environment, using appropriate equipment and techniques.
Include incidents like injury, lost group members, or sudden weather changes, and evaluate how well your group responded. - Create - Create a detailed walk plan and terrain model for a challenging hill walk, using either digital or physical materials
Include contour interpretation, estimated timings, escape routes, and risk assessments, then test your plan on a real walk if possible.
- Discover - Research how to prepare for a multi-day hillwalking expedition in terrain one or two.
Tips
- See if you can plan an aim for all of your walks. This could be about the hike itself - to reach a campsite, the peak of the mountain or a notable sight, or to undertake specific research – footpath quality, flora and fauna.
- Think about how different people can access the outdoors. Are there any ways we can support more people getting out hillwalking? Are there any groups you can work with?
- To get the badge, you can either try some of our example activities, or come up with your own with support from a Scouts volunteer or trusted adult. The activities should be challenging for you and take a reasonable amount of time.
Offer flexibility and encourage Explorers to tailor their badge to their interests and skill set.
Everyone has different skills and experiences, so try to consider their starting point when choosing what they will achieve.
As a rough guide, an Activity Badge should be achievable within 3 weeks of activities.- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- Where you’re going.
- Who you’re with.
- What time you plan to be finished.
- A plan for communicating your progress.
- Ask for help if you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
- Make sure you have an appropriately qualified person with you while taking part in Hill Walking activities. You can find general activity advice about Hill Walking and more information about Hill Walking and The Scout activity permits on our guidance pages.
- Complete your own risk assessment based on your plans and ask an adult volunteer to check it for you.
- Make sure you know what kit you need, that it is in good condition, and you know how to use it effectively.
- Do make sure that any external provider you use, do follows The Scouts' requirements by checking the Externally Led Activity guidance.
- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- All activities for this badge must be safely managed and locally approved.
- Volunteers must make sure they have completed a thorough risk assessment and taken appropriate steps to reduce risks.
- Check out the Hillwalking | Scouts guidance pages.
- Support Explorers to review and understand the Externally Led Activity guidance, that external providers can follow The Scouts requirements.
- Use the safety checklist to help plan and risk assess the activity.
Badges will be available to purchase from Scout Store later in September, please check back for updates.
June 2026.
Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities. See our guidance on flexibility.