| Physical | Technical | Fun | Scenery | Singletrack | Rideability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ****** | *** | ** | ****** | **** | ** |
Total Distance 32 Miles in 6 to 7 hours
Difficulty: Severe
There is one type of terrain that British mountain biking seriously lacks, and that is cliff top riding. For an island nation with thousands of miles of coastline, think how few of those miles can be (legally) enjoyed by MTB. This route on Skye is almost unique in that all of the off-road is along sea-cliffs, making it a genuine ‘must-do’ for all true mountain bikers. The route offers unrivalled sea-vistas over the northern Hebrides, as well as spectacular cliff scenery and guaranteed solitude. On the flip side, it also offers a fair chance of dreadful weather and an almost zero chance of rescue if you manage to break either yourself or the bike. Do yourself a favour by keeping this ride for that perfect day in May or September.
The Duirinish peninsula juts out to the west of Dunvegan, on the northwest corner of Skye. I can hardly think of many places that suffer from less pleasant weather – even on those rare occasions when the rest of Skye is bathed in sunshine, this distant corner can be under a deluge. If the weather looks even slightly dodgy when you arrive in Dunvegan then visit Macleod’s castle instead!
In Duirinish the place names are a strange mixture of Gaelic, English and Norwegian (e.g. Husabost or Dibidal). The wildlife is prolific (and large) with both Golden and Sea Eagles being spotted en route. The sea scenery is just as spectacular, with cliffs, caves, stacks and arches all in evidence. It certainly makes an entertaining change from moorland and mountains.
The northern half of Duirinish is sparsely populated, with a few minor roads, the southern half has no roads, and a population of one! This ride follows an old right of way around the coast from Lorgill (a few barns) to Orbost (a pier and a barn) via Idrigill point. The map shows a path the entire distance, but it is lying – for the 11km between Lorgill and Idrigill point there is nothing greater in width than a sheep track, and often nothing at all. That said, the 50m wide strip of land next to the cliff edge is like a bowling green, and offers far faster progress than the tussock and bog only a few feet inland. From Idrigill north is a fair sized singletrack / quad bike track. The rest of the route is simply road miles to connect it all into a circuit.
Treat this route with respect in all areas; the cliffs are up to 200m high and completely sheer; due to the general absence of track you’ll have to navigate carefully, and use common sense to avoid getting into a tricky vertical situation. Similarly, at the mid point of the route, you’ll be about 2 hours from help in any direction, so take plenty of kit if you’re travelling alone.
Firstly there is a road blast from Dunvegan, down the B884 (single track) to Glendale, via a 136m pass. Past Glendale, bear left up an even smaller road over a 215m pass to Ramasaig. As you pass Loch Eishort, look back over your shoulder to the near-1000 foot cliff of Waterstein head.
Ramasaig is a bungalow and a few sheds. Follow the track through the gated cattle pens (probably complete with cattle), and out the far side on a level land-rover track. After a gate, the track drops directly down a grass slope, to another barn (Lorgill). Cross the river at the ford / tin sheeting pretending to be a bridge, and follow a faint grass track down to the bay.
At the bay, climb steeply up the far bank, staying well away from the fence. You’ll encounter “the fence” in several places, as it serves to mark the cliff edge, even though it may appear to be across a featureless grassy slope. Treat “the fence” with respect and use it to plan your route in advance. You’ll need to carry your bike up this sharp climb, and the many subsequent ones to follow. Soon you’ll locate the cliff edge, and ride down on perfect grass to the first inlet. There’s an enormous natural arch here, and a chasm across the route (which the map conveniently ignores). You’ll have to walk about a quarter mile inland to cross this inlet, before continuing. Take heart in it being the deepest such inlet en-route.
Once back at the cliff edge, enjoy the grassy ‘zero’-track, and keep an eye out for big drops like this one!
The ride continues in the same vain until Idrigill point; sometimes along sheep tracks, sometimes across plain grass slopes, and occasionally upon an extremely faint developing track (other MTB tyre marks were seen). Some of the descents are pretty fun, but when the track is barely wider than your front tyre, it is hardly fast and furious. As stated before, steer clear of fenced sections, even if you can’t see the drop yet, and take care to take a sensible (high) route when climbing out of the valleys.
These cross-valleys present a diversion to the cliff-edge route, often forcing you into unrideable tussocky terrain further inland. They also cause the route to have a substantial amount of ascent – much of it pushing / carrying, probably totalling about the same as Helvellyn or Skiddaw. But take heart in the fact that the worst deviation was Scaladal Burn, right at the start of the cliff edge riding.
You can judge how far you are from Idrigill Point by observing “Macleod’s Maidens”, the obvious sea stacks visible throughout most of the ride – which are situated just off the ‘point’ (see below).
Just upstream in Glen Ollisdal is an occupied croft. It has no tracks, paths or even boat landing sites leading to it, and so must be 2 hours from the nearest road in any direction. It therefore seems unlikely that the occupant would welcome uninvited company, but in the event of an emergency it is the only roofed building anywhere close to the route. The croft is at GR 213394, and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, would have assumed it to be a roofless ruin (like Idrigill and the other Shielings marks on the map).
Continue along the highest section of cliff (about 200m a.s.l.), including a few metres of path (easily bypassed) across the cliff face itself! After rounding the point the track widens considerably to a distinct singletrack (superimposed upon an old vehicle track), which passes through the ruins of Idrigill (complete with black rabbits).
This new track is boggy in places, and climbs with reasonable fun to a col in the young forest ahead. A note for navigators is that all of the forest, at least up to the forest-road end, is either felled or young trees. This could be confusing if you’re expecting to enter a mature forest.
On the other side of the forest col is an absolutely revelation! The route from here to the forest road end (about 2km) is all recently constructed forestry singletrack. Not Glentress style, nor even created specifically for bikers; but damned entertaining, fast, and with narrow rain gutters that can be easily hopped. A superb (and well deserved) contrast to the trackless cliff edge riding.
Unfortunately the news from this track end is equally as disappointing. At the time of writing (09/02) recent extractions had left the forest road as a 2km trudge through glue-like mud. The alternative “footpath diversion” wasn’t even particularly walker friendly, never mind using it for bikes. Leave this route until next spring to avoid the quagmire.
From Orbost hit the road - always straight ahead - until you regain the B884, which leads you back to Dunvegan for a well-earned tea-and-cake break (but no chance on a Sunday!)
September 2002
Last Updated 25-09-2002
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