14 July 2018 Achmelvich to Gruinard Bay
Leaving our campsite we had heard about Clachtoll Beach and took a detour to visit. Clachtoll is a great beach! and lies on the B869 a twisting single track road that follows the coast from Lochinver north then east to Kylesku. We had avoided using this road when travelling to Achmelvich the previous day. From our campsite Cjlachtoll was only a 3 mile detour.
At first sight Clachtoll seems to comprise a scatter of crofts and houses, mostly to the east side of the road. The expansive grassy area to the west of the road is given over to the Clachtoll Beach Campsite. Non-campers who just want to visit the beach need to follow the signs along a narrow road through the campsite to a car park next to the Clachtoll Ranger Hut. Clachtoll faces west over the Bay of Clachtoll. The southern half of the head of the bay, south west from the car park, provides a truly glorious beach of white sand lapped by
Leaving our campsite we had heard about Clachtoll Beach and took a detour to visit. Clachtoll is a great beach! and lies on the B869 a twisting single track road that follows the coast from Lochinver north then east to Kylesku. We had avoided using this road when travelling to Achmelvich the previous day. From our campsite Cjlachtoll was only a 3 mile detour.
At first sight Clachtoll seems to comprise a scatter of crofts and houses, mostly to the east side of the road. The expansive grassy area to the west of the road is given over to the Clachtoll Beach Campsite. Non-campers who just want to visit the beach need to follow the signs along a narrow road through the campsite to a car park next to the Clachtoll Ranger Hut. Clachtoll faces west over the Bay of Clachtoll. The southern half of the head of the bay, south west from the car park, provides a truly glorious beach of white sand lapped by
idyllic turquoise water. You would imagine the Caribbean but today was cloudy and no sun but the sand was pristine. From the headlands either side of the beach you gain stunning mountain views to the south. For us this was enough in itself to make the short detour worthwhile.
North west from the car park is another inlet, which in marked contrast to its neighbour comprises layers of sloping rock strata and stone. This, and the rocks of the headlands either side of the sandy beach, make Clachtoll a renowned spot for geologists. Apparently it shows evidence of an ancient land surface covered by later rocks, and guarantees that you are as likely to see visitors heading for the beach with helmets and geologists' hammers as with flippers and snorkels...
Between the two inlets is a grassy headland on which you find a salmon bothy. This small stone building is part of the Clachtoll Salmon Station, preserved by the Assynt Historical Society. Displays show how the salmon station, which closed in 1994, would have operated. Less obvious than the bothy, and a little to the north east of it, is the ice house in which the catch would be kept until transported to market. Close by is a memorial to the Reverend Norman MacLeod, born in Clachtoll in 1780. He was a preacher who defied conventional church teachings and led many of his followers first to Canada, and later to Australia and New Zealand.
From here we continue our journey south on the A837 to our next destination of 2 overnight stays at Gruinard Bay.
We drive through he mountains surrounded by the peaks of Ben More assent massif through the mountains, moors and mist. We stop at various points to take in the breathtaking scenery especially at Ardveck castle the remains standing out from the greenery and colour of the loch. Then on to Knockan Crag a national nature reserve we are now on the A835 towards Ullapool a renowned geological site where geologist James Nicol proffered his theory of thrust faults why the younger rocks lay on top of older formations. There is a lot of information here and a life size bronzes of geologists Peach and Horne.
We head on through he magnificent scenery to Ullapool and the weather has become sunny. Ullapool was famous for its abundant herring fishery and played an important part in the village’s economy. In fact the village was designed by Thomas telford who had engineered the Caledonian Canal and some of his original buildings still stand around the harbourside. We make our way to the car park but it is full as today the Rotary Club of Ullapool are holding their open pier day. It seems lots of visitors have flocked here. We find a quiet street to park and walk to the harbourside. here the Lochiver Life Boat is providing an attraction and people are welcomed on board. We stop for a coffee and sandwich and then pay a small donation to go on the pier. here there is a Scottish Pipe Band, Highland dancing and gazebos selling crafts or raffles.
We head for a very large ship with ‘ COASTGUARD' emblazoned thereon. It is interesting as this is a specially designed ship for assisting others in trouble and has a large scale with mechanism capable of towing 120 tons. It is an Italian ship contracted to HM Coastguard to patrol the Minches between the Orkneys and Sheltand Islands. We were given a guided tour by the 1st Mate and shown from the bow where a helicopter could land to the Bridge with all of its technical
North west from the car park is another inlet, which in marked contrast to its neighbour comprises layers of sloping rock strata and stone. This, and the rocks of the headlands either side of the sandy beach, make Clachtoll a renowned spot for geologists. Apparently it shows evidence of an ancient land surface covered by later rocks, and guarantees that you are as likely to see visitors heading for the beach with helmets and geologists' hammers as with flippers and snorkels...
Between the two inlets is a grassy headland on which you find a salmon bothy. This small stone building is part of the Clachtoll Salmon Station, preserved by the Assynt Historical Society. Displays show how the salmon station, which closed in 1994, would have operated. Less obvious than the bothy, and a little to the north east of it, is the ice house in which the catch would be kept until transported to market. Close by is a memorial to the Reverend Norman MacLeod, born in Clachtoll in 1780. He was a preacher who defied conventional church teachings and led many of his followers first to Canada, and later to Australia and New Zealand.
From here we continue our journey south on the A837 to our next destination of 2 overnight stays at Gruinard Bay.
We drive through he mountains surrounded by the peaks of Ben More assent massif through the mountains, moors and mist. We stop at various points to take in the breathtaking scenery especially at Ardveck castle the remains standing out from the greenery and colour of the loch. Then on to Knockan Crag a national nature reserve we are now on the A835 towards Ullapool a renowned geological site where geologist James Nicol proffered his theory of thrust faults why the younger rocks lay on top of older formations. There is a lot of information here and a life size bronzes of geologists Peach and Horne.
We head on through he magnificent scenery to Ullapool and the weather has become sunny. Ullapool was famous for its abundant herring fishery and played an important part in the village’s economy. In fact the village was designed by Thomas telford who had engineered the Caledonian Canal and some of his original buildings still stand around the harbourside. We make our way to the car park but it is full as today the Rotary Club of Ullapool are holding their open pier day. It seems lots of visitors have flocked here. We find a quiet street to park and walk to the harbourside. here the Lochiver Life Boat is providing an attraction and people are welcomed on board. We stop for a coffee and sandwich and then pay a small donation to go on the pier. here there is a Scottish Pipe Band, Highland dancing and gazebos selling crafts or raffles.
We head for a very large ship with ‘ COASTGUARD' emblazoned thereon. It is interesting as this is a specially designed ship for assisting others in trouble and has a large scale with mechanism capable of towing 120 tons. It is an Italian ship contracted to HM Coastguard to patrol the Minches between the Orkneys and Sheltand Islands. We were given a guided tour by the 1st Mate and shown from the bow where a helicopter could land to the Bridge with all of its technical
equipment. near the car park is a handy Tesco supermarket where we were able to stock up on supplies.
Heading out of Ullapool we catch a sharp shower of rain and join the A832 at Braemore Junction looking out for the signs to the Falls of Measach. Not far after you turn off is a carpaprk and the land is owned by the Scottish National Trust who request a donation to visit the bridge across the Corrieshalloch Gorge. This is a spectacularly deep, mile long box canyon through which the River Droma descends towards Loch Broom, en route forming the 160ft high Falls of Measach formed by glacial melt waters. There is a modern suspension bridge across the Gorge (only 6 people at a time) looking down the near 200’ drop. A couple of hundred yards further along is a modern view point which takes in the Gorge, Bridge and falls.
We continue our drive along the road that tracks high above Little Loch Broom with spectacular veins across to the mountains on the other side. we now skirt the shores of Gruinard Bay looking for our next base tonight, Gruinard Bay Caravan and Camping Site. Gruinard Bay has only a few houses bit has a handy Post Office and stores and a fuel station.
Gruinard Bay ranks amongst the finest sandy bays in this part of the Highlands -it is a beautiful sweep of golden sand, especially at low tide; it is seen particularly well from an elevated layby a short distance west along the main road. We are fortunate as our campsite is almost on the beach and we park up for the night yards from the white sands overlooking the 180 degree views of mountains and loch. There is a short walk (3.2kms). The walk itself begins from the car park east of the river near Little Gruinard. You can cross over the road and go down the wooden broadwalk to reach the sands of Gruinard beach. Turn left along the beach; before reaching the river, look out for a path leading back up the dunes - this leads back to the road at a pedestrian gate.Turn right along the road (care - it can be busy) for a short distance before turning left through the gate just before the bridge. The path - initially more of a muddy ATV track - swings left to avoid the gorse bushes, but it's worth detouring for a look upriver first. Back on the muddy track, this soon becomes an indistinct path - follow the clearest trod past the area of gorse bushes, eventually losing a little height. The path becomes clearer as it runs along a short distance above the river, and eventually it runs beside the water itself.After about a kilometre and a half the path reaches a viewpoint for the Eas Dubh a Ghlinne Ghaibh, a fine and very attractive waterfall. The path does continue further upstream but runs across a steep slope above a gorge, and it isn't really possible to make a circular walk, so it is probably better to return the same way. Rather than head back across the beach, it is possible to shortcut from near the end of the glen section to head more directly down to a stile giving access to the car park.
Heading out of Ullapool we catch a sharp shower of rain and join the A832 at Braemore Junction looking out for the signs to the Falls of Measach. Not far after you turn off is a carpaprk and the land is owned by the Scottish National Trust who request a donation to visit the bridge across the Corrieshalloch Gorge. This is a spectacularly deep, mile long box canyon through which the River Droma descends towards Loch Broom, en route forming the 160ft high Falls of Measach formed by glacial melt waters. There is a modern suspension bridge across the Gorge (only 6 people at a time) looking down the near 200’ drop. A couple of hundred yards further along is a modern view point which takes in the Gorge, Bridge and falls.
We continue our drive along the road that tracks high above Little Loch Broom with spectacular veins across to the mountains on the other side. we now skirt the shores of Gruinard Bay looking for our next base tonight, Gruinard Bay Caravan and Camping Site. Gruinard Bay has only a few houses bit has a handy Post Office and stores and a fuel station.
Gruinard Bay ranks amongst the finest sandy bays in this part of the Highlands -it is a beautiful sweep of golden sand, especially at low tide; it is seen particularly well from an elevated layby a short distance west along the main road. We are fortunate as our campsite is almost on the beach and we park up for the night yards from the white sands overlooking the 180 degree views of mountains and loch. There is a short walk (3.2kms). The walk itself begins from the car park east of the river near Little Gruinard. You can cross over the road and go down the wooden broadwalk to reach the sands of Gruinard beach. Turn left along the beach; before reaching the river, look out for a path leading back up the dunes - this leads back to the road at a pedestrian gate.Turn right along the road (care - it can be busy) for a short distance before turning left through the gate just before the bridge. The path - initially more of a muddy ATV track - swings left to avoid the gorse bushes, but it's worth detouring for a look upriver first. Back on the muddy track, this soon becomes an indistinct path - follow the clearest trod past the area of gorse bushes, eventually losing a little height. The path becomes clearer as it runs along a short distance above the river, and eventually it runs beside the water itself.After about a kilometre and a half the path reaches a viewpoint for the Eas Dubh a Ghlinne Ghaibh, a fine and very attractive waterfall. The path does continue further upstream but runs across a steep slope above a gorge, and it isn't really possible to make a circular walk, so it is probably better to return the same way. Rather than head back across the beach, it is possible to shortcut from near the end of the glen section to head more directly down to a stile giving access to the car park.
