Arisaig is a beautiful village sat on the shores of Loch nan Ceall at the end of the 'Road to the Isles' just a few miles south of Mallaig. Arisaig has a busy little marina where many wildlife and island boat trips depart from year round. You need to make sure you have a trip that can involve you being on the island for a minimum of four and a half hours. At time of typing these details the boats to Eigg leave Arisaig at 11:00 daily arriving in Eigg at 12:00 and then later leave Eigg at 16:30 to return to Arisaig for 17:30. This leaves four and a half hours for the full walk which usually takes around four hours on a good day.
Arisaig from boat |
Loch nan Ceall |
The boat leaves Arisaig and heads out of the end of Loch nan Ceall, from the port there are plenty of opportunities to see local bird life like Grey Herons and Buzzards that can be seen circling over the woodlands on the mainland. Soon after leaving Loch nan Ceall the boat follows the shallows of the South Channel. The pointy profile of Rum will come into view to the immediate north west sticking out of the sea behind the unique profile of Eigg. The island of Eigg from the mainland is a fantastic looking island with a long and steadily rising strata of lava on its right hand side and dropping to sea level on the left except for the unique fin shape of the An Sgurr which you will climb on this walk.
Shags and Seals |
Eigg lava strata |
The boat passes rocks full of Shags and Seals on its way out of the South Channel, the going gets slightly rougher as the boat enters the main sea channel. The boat now heads straight to Eigg and even the Isle of Skye and the huge Cullin Ridge come into view to the north. As the boat comes closer to the island you will see the amazing strata in its north eastern cliffs, showing the whole north of the island to be a lava flow that came from the volcano that now makes up the profile of the island of Rum.
Woodlands |
Galmisdale House |
Once on the island you will depart from the boat and head towards the visitors centre with its excellent facilities including toilets, local information, craft shop, cafe and even a surprisingly well stocked grocery shop. The craft shop has a few local guide books and a pack of walks on postcards which you may find useful and the grocery shop has the local ordnance survey maps. After using the facilities at the pier area head up Pier Hill on the track avoiding the road on the right. You will pass a standing stone on the right which commemorates the island community buy out of 1997. Follow the track through a woodland with the odd housing on the right. You will reach a kind of crossroads at the end of the road where a road goes left towards a farm and a road goes right into the woods. Here instead of going left or right go straight ahead on a track that heads steep uphill through beautiful woodlands with plenty of wild flowers and bird life.
Nose of An Sgurr |
Loch nam Ban Mora |
The path through the forest turns right and heads through a gateway and then out on to open grazing fields. The building ahead of you here is known as Gamlisdale House. Galmisdale House has a long history on the island, the original buildings were built in the 18th century and since then it has served as a hunting lodge, hotel and even the islands post office. It is set in an almost perfect location with An Sgurr towering above it and incredible views to the Scottish mainland. Go past the front of Galmisdale House and through the metal gate at the back of it. Go left on the track behind and then go almost immediately right onto the path to An Sgurr. The path here is a bit of a nightmare, as it leaves the track to the right it enters the heather and heads towards a water butt for the house below but actually turns sharp right here onto the hill to the right, but unfortunately it isn't well signposted and people do tend to head along the straight path that has now eroded towards the water butt and stream. So my advice here is as you leave the track onto the path it does turn right and uphill, not into the streams small valley.
Nose of An Sgurr |
Basalt cliffs |
Once on the path it heads slowly up hill towards the Nose of An Sgurr, as you get closer it becomes even more impressive. The path eventually reaches the northern side of An Sgurr after crossing often boggy moorlands. Once on the northern side of An Sgurr the path continues and due to the mass of An Sgurr now being on your left and also south side you often end up in its cold shadow. The north side is a huge wall of steep scree and is by no means walking territory. Stick to the path until you get to the other end of the ridge which is longer than you would have thought. Once at the far end the path will start ascending towards a slight col, here looking right and north west you will get a tremendous vies across Loch nam Ban Mora to Rum. The path climbs onto the back of the ridge and you can also now see the isle of Muck in the waters to the south of the island.
Muck |
An Sgurr summit |
Muck is also one of the Small Islands. The view down onto the shoreline from this col is to the old abandoned township of Upper Gruline and the ruins of its many round buildings are clearly seen. Also in the cliffs to the right here you will see the basalt columns that make up so much of the islands geology. You now have two options, there is a path that takes you along the south edge od the crest of the ridge or you can simply keep heading east along the ridge sticking to the easy rock on its crest which is great fun. After a while and a slight down then up you will reach the highest point of An Sgurr where you will see a unique circular stone trig pillar.
Isle of Eigg from the mainland
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An Sgurr is a volcanic replica. The lava flow from the main volcano which now profiles the neighbouring island of Rum ran off in this direction and created a huge valley which over time has eroded, leaving only those parts that were to tough to erode, one of which fortunately for us was this fin of rock you are now standing on. It is a fascinating piece of geology, seen from the mainland it has intrigued me for years and to stand on top of it is just as exciting. Take the same route back down of An Sgurr and the same route back to the pier passing Galmisdale House on the way. You should be able to make it back to the pier four hours after you set off leaving you plenty of time to enjoy a short break before the boat arrives to take you home. From the boat home you'll be able to look back at your achievement.
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Duration : 4.5 Hrs + Boat
