This is a real jewel of a spot, which we’ve visited twice: once in October 2016 (main pic) and again in October 2017, with my lovely friend Mark, who’s as much of a wilderness and view fan as the hound and me.
Ledi & Mark enjoying the autumn sunshine
Loch Sionascaig is buried in the heart of the Assynt, about a 15-minute yomp off the single-track road that leads north from the Coigach peninsula. (See map below and ‘View towards ‘Stack Polly’: the HOME page shot’.)
You’ll need some very decent walking boots and I’d even go so far as to recommend gaiters or wellies, as it gets very boggy in places. Once you get off the not-very-main road, you kind of need to keep bearing ahead and left a bit. You’ll go through some trees and then come out on a very ‘rustic’ botch-job of a fishermen’s pathway – follow it. Boggy, boggy, left a bit, straight on, boggy, boggy. You’ll sense where the loch is… You cross a little rough beachy bit, which will probably have boats pulled up on it, and you’re aiming for the little hill next to it. The Sausage is quite the mountain goat, so had no trouble beating me up to the top, where there’s a very convenient flat rock you can flop on to admire the view across Loch Sionascaig.
Mountain-wise, you’ve got Suilven to the left (already famous, but made more so by the 2017 film, ‘Edie’) and then, ahead of you: Cul Mor, Cul Beag and Stac Pollaidh. It’s a classic Assynt vista and well worth the soggy feet.
Checking out Suilven with its distinctive domed summit
LOCATION INFO
Getting there: From Ullapool, take the A835 north for around 10km, until you come to a turning left at Drumrunie, signed ‘Achiltibuie 15’. After about 12.5k you reach a turning right, signed ‘Inverkirkaig7, Lochinver 12’. Around 2.5km along the single-track road as you reach the crest, there are a few tatty lay-bys – just abandon the car on the edge of the road and yomp over to the rock.
Sat Nav: IV27 4LR
OS Landranger map: 15 LOCH ASSYNT, Lochinver & Kylesku
Terrain: Muddy, boggy, heather. Hefty walking boots and gaiters recommended.
Nearest facilities: Probably the most reliable are in Lochinver, about 10k north. While you’re there, make sure you visit the Highland Stoneware pottery. I bought a couple of lovely bowls and I’m sure they make the crisps taste better 😉
Highland Stoneware 'sitting room' outside the pottery & my lovely bowls
All maps in the blog are from Google Maps
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