A coast walk along Loch Alsh with views of Skye, the sea and a fish farm.
Kyle IV40 8JZ, Scotland 8.8 Miles 3.5 HoursEasy
Paths: Track, grassy shoreline and road, no stiles
Landscape: Wooded coast and moorland pass
Dog Friendliness: Yes, on lead where indicated
Parking: Near the Pier of Glenelg Ferry
Public toilets: None on route
From the car park a track runs out, signed for Ardintoul and Totaig. It ascends gently through two gates and then goes through a third into a plantation. With high power lines just above, the track then forks. Go left, downhill, passing an arrow painted on a rock. The track runs between the feet of a tall pylon and then climbs again to contour through a birch wood. It runs in and out of a tiny stream gorge, then gently descends towards the shore. On the other side of Loch Alsh, the white houses of Balmacara are directly ahead.
Along the shoreline, the track veers off into an open field strip. Continue along the short cropped grass next to the shingle beach, passing a salmon farm just offshore. When the trees start to run down to the sea, a green track runs next to the shore. It passes below a small crag with birches to reach open flat ground near Ardintoul Farm. Continue along the shore, outside field walls, and sometimes taking to the stripy schist shingle, towards a square brick building on the point ahead. Just before reaching it you come to a wall gap. Here a track that's simply a pair of green ruts runs directly inland. It joins a gravel track, where you turn left to pass sheds and a house to regain the shoreline at Ardintoul.
The track runs along the shoreline, then turns inland to climb the hill behind. Below on the left, the Allt na Dalach runs into Loch Alsh, with a beautifully clear example of a gravel spit where river debris runs into tidal water. The track enters plantations, crosses a stream and bends right to complete its climb to the Bealach Luachrach.
Continue downhill on the unsurfaced road, which reaches the tarred public road, a mile (1.6km) north of Glenelg village. A grassy verge between road and sea leads back to the ferry pier.
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