Walking was the main outdoor recreational activity people took part in last year.
More than two-fifths (42%) of people in Scotland carried out recreational outdoor activities at least once a week in 2012 a drop of 4% on the previous year.
Walking was the main activity people took part in (73%), followed by family outings (8%) and cycling and mountain biking (4%), according to tracking figures from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
While the proportion of adults getting outdoors has fallen slightly on 2011, SNH said there was no significant change in the long-term, between 2006 and 2012.
Visits made close to home, involving less than two miles of travelling, remained at 44% in 2012, as it was the year before.
Total expenditure on visits to the outdoors in 2012 was estimated to be around £2.6 billion, down slightly on the previous year, SNH said.
SNH spokesman Alan Macpherson said: “It’s reassuring to see that the long-term trend for weekly visits to the outdoors remains stable, although we have seen some fluctuations year-on-year.”
