SCOTLAND THE BEAUTIFUL: GLEN ELCHAIG . . .

There are many things I love about Scotland . . . and one of the best is that there are constantly new bits to discover. New to us anyway . . . they've been here all along, we just need to find them. Whether that's by recommendation, or by chance.

Glen Elchaig was one of these chance findings.

We wanted a cottage up North for the fella's birthday, he found one we liked the look of. All we knew was it was near Dornie and the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh. Turns out it was actually in the tiny hamlet of Camas-Luinie, and after driving through the most delightful valley to find the cottage, we dug deeper.

To find Glen Elchaig, head North towards Eilean Donan castle . . . not far past there, you swing a right onto a small single-track road with passing places. It almost instantly opens out into fabulous scenery, dramatic hills reflecting mirror images of their beauty into the loch below. The road can be a bit hazardous at times (meeting a car coming in the opposite direction in the dark and having to reverse without a clue where the last passing place was is pretty stressful - and I was the passenger not the driver!), but as long as you're careful and try and note where the passing places are (and ideally try and navigate it when it's relatively light still), you'll be fine!

 

Every time we left the cottage to head out to Skye or Applecross or Glenelg (more on that one in an upcoming post), I would see another beautiful scene that I needed to capture immediately on my camera. This glen, as I said in one of my (many) instagram posts featuring it, was the glen that kept on giving. It is an absolute stunner . . . and with only a handful of houses in each of the hamlets it is pretty untouched and unspoilt.

If you are looking for a MASSIVE walk, Glen Elchaig is also one of the starting points for a walk to the Falls of Glomach. The car park for this is near to Camas-Luinie, which is about seven miles from the main road. Then the walk itself is apparently 5-7 hours long. Um . . . really not for me, but the falls are meant to be pretty magnificent so if you're into that sort of thing, please feel free to go and take some pictures for me, okay? There are also plenty of mountains around, so I'm sure if you do a bit of research into Glen Elchaig you'll find quite a few worth a clamber up.

Even if you're in the area, have a wee wander in to the glen and a look around. Drive to the car park just for the hell of it, and find this little gem of a glen that you may have missed. It's definitely worth the detour.

Have you ever been to Glen Elchaig?