Abstract
This essay examines the development of a culture of outdoor activity in the Highlands of Scotland during the inter‐war period. With reference to recent work on imagined national narratives, an investigation is made of the struggle waged for recreative, moral and political control of this significant region. By focusing upon the role of the Scottish Youth Hostel Association (SYHA) the essay illustrates how an organisation ostensibly concerned with the hearty apolitical pursuit of outdoor recreation was actually representative of a populist movement inspired by modern notions of nationhood and citizenship. The SYHA advocated a keen awareness of Scotland's environmental and cultural heritage among a generation previously confined to the perceived evils of the industrial settlement. The essay concludes by suggesting that ultimately, the quiescent politics adopted by the SYHA in relation to public access and the forms of patriotism which it promoted, were determined by a dominant landowning and metropolitan elite positioned firmly within the organisation's very midst.
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