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Which Munro should I climb next?

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About the map

‘Munro bagging,’ or climbing the mountains above 3000 feet in Scotland, is a popular recreational activity and climbing all 282 of them is the ultimate challenge. Munros are chosen to climb on several factors, and there is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to selecting one. We tried to create a tool to help you decide which Munro you might want to climb next, and this fun, interactive map was the result of that experimentation.

The map shows two relationships between elevation and popularity, and distance to roads and built-up areas. Using bivariate colour symbology for visual efficiency, Munros can be filtered based on the considerations you value the most.

The map is not a navigation tool, and keep in mind the safety considerations required when climbing a Munro - make sure your ambition matches your abilities. 

Why it works

The number of public social media posts act as a general indicator of a Munro’s popularity, distance to roads and built-up areas are an indication of how remote they are, and elevation is a basic indication of their difficulty (although keep in mind the distance you have to climb is the ascent from the surrounding land).

Stacking the bivariate colour schemes allows you to show all your attributes on the same map, while ranking the data normalises these values for effective comparison and filtering. A fully interactive experience means the reader can tailor the map to their preferences and find the Munros that best suit their needs.

Important Steps

  • 1.

    Prepare your data in ArcGIS Pro by sub-setting the hills dataset to just Munros by using Select by Attributes and exporting the data using the selected records. Use the Clip tool to trim your roads and built-up areas data to Scotland.

  • 2.

    Manually create the popularity data through searching for the number of public Instagram posts under the hashtags of the Munro names.

  • 3.

    Calculate your distance to roads and built up areas using the Near (analysis) tool.

     

  • 4.

    Rank your data values to normalise them so they can be compared more easily. Since numbers of public Instagram posts are rounded, give the hashtags with the same number of public posts the same ranking.

  • 5.

    Create stacked bivariate analysis symbology by altering the size of the symbols to compare the data attributes through colour.

  • 6.

    Publish your data to ArcGIS Online and use the Sidebar Instant Apps template to allow attributes to be filtered.

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Requirements

  • Analysis

    The Near tool in ArcGIS Pro was used to calculate the distance from the Munros to roads and built-up areas. The data layer was duplicated and two different bivariate symbologies were applied to show the relationship between elevation and popularity, and distance to roads and built-up areas. Filters were configured in the Instant Apps Sidecar template.

  • Time

    Most of the time was spent preparing the data and exploring different symbology methods. Configuring the final map for the Instant App took a few hours.

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Tips and tricks

  • tip-1-which-munro

    Use multiple symbols

    Stacking symbology of differing sizes creates an interesting composite symbology and maximises the amount of information you can show on a single map.

  • tip-2-which-munro

    Watch out for skewed data

    Skewed data could make filtering unequal. Ranking and categorising the data meant it was easier to fine tune the filtering slider.

  • tip-3-which-munro

    Create multiple maps

    Using multiple maps within your project is a great organisational tool for when you are experimenting with symbology or preparing to upload your data online.

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Links & Resources

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Isla Evans

Map Author

Isla Evans

Isla is a Graduate GIS Consultant at Esri UK with a background in physical geography. She loves crafting, reading, and exploring the Scottish countryside whenever she can.

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