Walking, Hiking and Rambling Jargon

If you know of a walking and hiking term or jargon not covered here - click here and let us know.

Aréte - a very narrow rocky ridge with steep drops on both sides
Bealach - a dip in the ridge between two mountain peaks (Scotland)
Beck - a stream
Bog Trotter - a walker who enjoys long, rough walks on the rough and boggy moorlands of the Peak District
Bottom - a broad level area lower down a valley
Boulder Slope - a mountain slope covered in large boulders
Brae - hill slope/upland
Bridget - English, Scottish and Welsh Hills - see Bridgets
Brook - a stream
Buttress - a rock face flanked by gullies
Bwlch - a dip in the ridge between two mountain peaks (Wales)
Cairn - a small pile of stones marking the summit or route
Causey - causeway
Cirque - a large depression in a mountain side, usually with a steep back wall and often with a tarn in the bottom
Clint - A block of limestone forming part of a limestone 'pavement'. Clints are separated from each other by Grykes
Cloud - a hill
Clough - a moorland valley cut by a stream
Coire - a large depression in a mountain side, usually with a steep back wall and often with a tarn in the bottom
Col - a dip in the ridge between two mountain peaks (England)
Comb - the rounded side of a hill
Contour (to) - to move across a fellside without losing height
Corbett - Scottish Mountains - see Corbetts
Corrie - a large depression in a mountain side, usually with a steep back wall and often with a tarn in the bottom (Scotland)
Cove - a large depression in a mountain side, usually with a steep back wall and often with a tarn in the bottom (England)
Crag - a cliff
Craig - a rocky place
Cwm - a large depression in a mountain side, usually with a steep back wall and often with a tarn in the bottom (Wales)
Dale - a large valley
Dike - a stream
Dod/Dodd - a bare hill with a rounded top
Donald - Scottish Mountains see Donalds
Edge - a very narrow rocky ridge with steep drops on both sides
Erratic - A piece of rock that deviates from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests
Fell - a mountain or hill
Firth - estuary or sea loch
Force - waterfall
Geo (or Gio) - an inlet, gully or narrow and deep cleft in the face of a cliff. Geos are common on the coastline of the Shetland and Orkney islands. They are created by the wave driven erosion of cliffs along faults and bedding planes in the rock. Some Geos have sea caves at their heads.
Ghyll - a ravine with a stream
Gill - a ravine with a stream
Graham - Scottish Mountains see Grahams
Grain - a tributary stream
Grough - a channel cut into peat moorland by running water
Gryke - Fissures that separate the Clints in a limestone 'pavement'. These form sheltered places for delicate plants and ferns
Gully - a wide cleft down a cliff face
Gutter - a stream
Hag - an isolated 'pedestal' of peat topped with grass
Hewitt - English, Irish or Welsh Mountain see English Mountains and Welsh Mountains
Holme - an island
Hotine Pillar - see Trig Point
How - a small hill
Knott - a rocky hill
Kyle - a large sea or ocean inlet
Law - a conical or rounded hill
Links - sand dunes
Linn - deep narrow gorge or waterfall
Marilyn - Compiled by Alan Dawson this is a list of hills and mountains in England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man of any height with at least 152m (approx 500ft) 'ascent' all round. There are currently 1554 of them (177 in England, 157 in Wales, 1216 in Scotland and 5 on the Isle of Man) There are also 555 Marilyns in Ireland (of which 66 are in Northern Ireland). All the significant Marilyns are already covered by the traditional Hill and Mountain Classification Systems.
Meikle - big or great
Mere - a lake
Merse - low-lying, fertile area in Scottish Borders unitary authority, Scotland; lying below 150 m/492 ft above sea level. As a former district, it denoted the land between the Cheviot Hills and the Lammermuir Hills. (dict.)
Mickle - big or great
Mire - a peat bog
Moss - level, marshy area
Muckle - big or great
Muir - rough grazing
Munro - Scottish Mountains - see Munros
Murdo - Scottish Mountains - see Murdos
Nether - lower
Pass - a relatively easy route from one valley to another between two mountains
Pike - a sharp, well defined mountain peak
Pinnacle - a large rock face with a pointed summit
Pot-hole - cave
Rake - hillside path originally used for driving animals
Ridge - a long narrow line of mountain tops with several small summits and cols - can have a steep drop on one side but not both sides (see Aréte & Edge)
Rigg - a ridge
Sauchie - place or field of the willows
Scramble - a climb up through rock requiring the use of both hands and feet but not rope
Scree Slope - slope covered with small pieces of rock
Shake Holes - a depression found where previous mining has occurred but does not have water running to it
Shiel - bothy or shepherd's hut
Sough - drainage tunnel cut in lead mines
Sound - a large sea or ocean inlet
Spout - spring or waterfall
Stones - small outcrop of gritstone
Strait - a naturally formed, narrow, typically navigable waterway that connects two larger bodies of water
Swallets - hole in limestone where streams disappear
Swallow Holes - hole in limestone where streams disappear
Tarn - a small lake
Tor - a hill
Traverse - to move across a fellside without losing height
Triangulation Pillar - see Trig Point
Trig Point - Typically the concrete pillars erected by the Ordnance Survey on the top (but not necessarily on the actual summit) of prominent hills and mountains. In low lying or flat areas some trig points may be only a few metres above sea-level. When all the trig points were in place, it was possible, in clear weather, to see at least two other trig points from any one trig point. In most of the United Kingdom, trig points are truncated square concrete (occasionally stone) pyramids or obelisks tapering towards the top, generally known as Hotine Pillars. In some regions of Scotland they comprise a thin circular concrete column. A benchmark is set on the side, marked with the letters "O S B M" (Ordnance Survey Bench Mark) and the reference number of the trig point. Many of these trig points are now disappearing from the countryside (vandalised and/or removed) as their original function has largely been superseded by aerial photography and digital mapping using lasers and GPS measurements
Wainwright - Lake District Hills and Mountains - see The Wainwrights
Wainwright Outliers - Lake District Hills and Mountains - see The Wainwright Outliers
Water - a lake

If you know of a walking and hiking term or jargon not covered here - click here and let us know.

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