The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Step into a Scottish island spring
As restrictions across Britain begin to ease, Mark Rowe reveals the best hiking routes on magical isles from Eigg and Orkney to Harris and Tiree
Take a walk on a Scottish island and the experience is quite different to anything else the UK has to offer. There really is nothing like it; stroll over a moorland brow and gaze down upon your hiking kingdom, where peaks incise the skyline like a cardiogram, or softer, rounded hills shelter a loch or valley where birdsong carries a penetratingly stirring quality.
Chances are you will spot a charismatic animal, whether that be a red deer, an otter or a white-tailed sea eagle. And while the landscape may, at first glance, be empty, you will soon pick out small clumps of woodland, a lochan catching the first of the day’s sunlight, or a distant township, its buildings resembling blocks of Lego dropped from the sky.
Sooner or later you will also brush up against the sea, thumping into the base of high cliffs or heaving itself on to vast, empty beaches where your boots will be the first that day to smudge the fine sand. And then there is the magical light that you only really get on small islands; a mixture of lochs, shallow seas and a lack of light pollution that creates a liquid light and a crystalline air that seems to bounce up to the sky and back again, magnifying the folds and creases of the overlooking mountains.
A few basic points should be taken into consideration if you are not familiar with walking in rural Scotland. The weather is always playful – I’ve been sunburnt in March and worn thermals in June (in the case of the latter, it just makes that beer, whisky or hot chocolate taste all the better). Unlike England, many routes do not follow footpaths but instead traverse open ground. Waymarking will often be in the form of ski poles planted at irregular intervals, or painted dots on stones (the high winds tend to make short work of fingerpost signs). Remoteness in what are simply less-walked areas is also an important consideration so you should always let someone know where you plan to go – just in case.
While we can’t go at the moment, the time we can visit is tantalisingly close and the islands are waiting for us to explore once more. Here are some of the finest forays in the Scottish Isles – for your first island break of 2021.
NOUP HEAD
Westray
The north-west coast of Westray can lay rightful claim to some of the wildest and most elemental landscapes of all Scottish islands. The walk offers some of the most dramatic scenery to be found in the UK. Many cliffs can appear to have been hacked away with a fretsaw; Noup Head and its approaches have simply been guillotined. The cliffwalking is just that, although there are stiles that offer a slightly more inland route if you don’t wish to stride right by the edge.
Distance: 8 miles
Map: OS Explorer 464
Route: From Pierowall, follow road signs for the Noup up past the school and Noltland Castle. By the farm at Backaras, take the left-hand path downhill between fields to the coast, i Get the ball rolling: when rules are lifted, be among the first to leave your footprints in the sand
j Choppy: at Noup Head on Westray, the cliffs are so steep they appear to have been guillotined over a couple of stiles and turn right (ignore the blank signpost, which unhelpfully points left). Follow the coast path all the way to the lighthouse. To return, pick up the lighthouse access track and follow this to Backaras, where you retrace your steps to Pierowall.
ST MAGNUS WAY
Orkney
Orkney’s first long-distance path was created as a pilgrimage route but even if you are not religious it is a fine means of exploring the main island. Named for the Earl who was murdered in 1117, the entire route stretches for 55 miles, divided into six stages. The route from Evie on the north coast is particularly appealing and follows the journey that Magnus’s body took to interment at Birsay. You’ll pass some of Orkney’s glorious beaches and the haunting tidal causeway at Birsay.
Distance: 12.5 miles
Map: OS Explorer 463
Route: The entire route is waymarked. From Evie sands, the path follows the coast and farmland before steeply ascending Costa Hill. From here, you drop down to the shores of the Loch of Swannay before a coastal finale leads to Birsay and its adjoining tidal island.
BOGHA GLAS TO MIABHAIG
Harris
This dramatic walk takes you through wild and remote scenery in the North Harris Hills. Following tracks established over centuries by fishermen, crofters and deerstalkers, you are overshadowed by overhanging mountain ledges in a phenomenally empty landscape. Look out for golden eagles – there is a hide near the end of the walk where you can sit in warmth and look for them, as well as white-tailed eagles. Distance: 10 miles Maps: OS Explorer 456 and 458 Route: While this is a remote walk, it is well signposted and it is hard to get lost as there are few alternative paths. Leaving from Bogha Glas strike out west up Glen Visidale before turning south under the shadow of Clisham, passing the eagle hide to reach the Hushinish road. This is a linear walk, so you’ll need to arrange transport at either end.
LOCH DRUIDIBEG
South Uist
This walk takes in both one of South Uist’s magical lochs and its glorious coastal sea meadows, known as the machair. The contrast of colour between the dark green of the loch shore and the bright green of the machair is extraordinary. The birdlife changes, too: on the loch you may see swans and golden plovers; on the machair, the sky in spring and summer is full of lapwings and skylarks. Distance: 6 miles
Map: OS Explorer 453
Route: Follow the Hebridean Way across Loch Druidibeg from the lay-by on the B890. Cross the A865 with care and go straight ahead along the track to Drimsdale House. Walk to the end of the paved lane and keep ahead along the track. Turn right through the gate following purple waymarkers. When you reach a second lane turn right, cross the A865 past Hopewell Cottage. Walk down the B890 for one and a half miles back to the lay-by.
HERMANESS
Shetland
This walk takes you as far north as you can go in the UK and it looks the part, a land of high cliffs given over to the formidable Great Skua, or Bonxie, a petrel that will let you know if you encroach too closely. The end point is a ruined hut on Hermaness Hill, which has some superb views of Muckle Flugga lighthouse.
Distance: 7 miles
Map: OS Explorer 470
Route: The start is the road’s end at the Ness, where there is an RSPB centre. Follow the signposts uphill and along boardwalks. The path reaches the cliff top at Toolie, then veers north, dropping into Sothers Dale before climbing to the hut. Retrace your steps.
TRESHNISH COAST
Mull
This superb circular walk takes in coastal scenery, abandoned villages and a whisky cave (located in a gully and deliberately difficult to find as it was an illegal still). There are also superb views across to the Treshnish Isles before you climb uphill to explore the village of Crackaig. Distance: 7 miles
Map: OS Explorer 374
Route: Start at the quarry at Ensay on the B8073 and follow signs for Treshnish. Walk around the farm to the left, still following the signs. Keep left above the raised beach, passing Port Haunn. The whisky cave is on the shoreline and access is down a steep small track. Look for the track back up the hill to Crackaig.
RINGING STONE
Tiree
This hike explores the eastern end of
the island and takes in fine beaches and fields beneath big skies full of birdsong. Along the way you’ll pass the ringing stone, shaped rather like a mushroom cap or an oversized staddle stone. Admire its age-old cup marks before giving it a bang to hear why it is well named.
Distance: 7 miles
Maps: OS Explorer 372
Route: Follow the road from the pier and turn right to track the bay. Head inland, past Loch Riaghain. When you reach the north shore, turn east to make for the Ringing Stone. Walk past Loch Dubh and rejoin the road to return to the south shore. Follow Gott Bay back to Scaranish.
BRODICK AND LAMLASH
Arran
This walk explores Arran’s softer, lusher and less mountainous southern hinterland and takes in its largest villages of Brodick and Lamlash, while providing superb views of the Arran Hills to the north. The route then heads inland and meanders through Fairy Glen. Brodick Beach is perfect for peeling off your boots and rewarding your feet with a refreshing paddle in the Firth of Clyde.
Distance: 9 miles
Map: OS Explorer 361
Route: From Brodick, follow paths and tracks out to Dhunan Orchard. Follow the path as it heads southeast and then southwest to reach Lamlash. Head north on the A841. Pick up a parallel path to the road when you reach the golf course. Follow the path and forestry road through Fairy Glen and descend back down to Brodick.
AN SGURR
Eigg
The old lava flow of An Sgurr is the largest single piece of rock in the whole of the British Isles and, set against surrounding low-lying land, looks much more formidable than its official height of 1,289ft. From the top you can take in a view of the Small Isles, dominated by the shark’s fin skyline of Rum.
Distance: 4 miles
Map: OS Explorer 397
Route: Take the road uphill from the ferry, heading for the house below An Sgurr. The path turns to the right and through a gate, then left past the depopulated farm settlement of
Grulin. Follow the cairns and red waymarkers around the north side of An Sgurr to reach the lochans located just below the summit. From here, it’s a scramble to the peak, or The Nose.
This superb walk is rewarding for its elemental scenery, culminating in the spectacle of the Gulf of Corryvreckan, home to a whirlpool notorious with sailors. Make it to the northern tip and it may make sense why George Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four here (see story, opposite page) – he was lucky to escape with his life after his dinghy capsized in the tempestuous currents. Distance: 13 miles
Map: OS Explorer 355
Route: Begin from the end of the road beyond Lealt and follow tracks north, which bring you out by the coast at Kinuachdrachd harbour. Then head north over some rough, boggy, ground to Carraig Mhor.
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