Kinlochewe

The approach from the East is now a two lane road as far as Achnasheen where a new roundabout has been constructed at the junction with the Glen Carron road. The final 15 km over the pass to Kinlochewe is still single track and there is a parking place at the head of Glen Docherty to allow travellers to take in the view. The main road drops to the valley floor and into the village of Kinlochewe at the head of Loch Maree. A side road heads west down Glen Torridon to Lochcarron, this road running along the foot of both Beinn Eighe and Liathach and traversing the Torridon region.

Kinlochewe offers a shop, garage, hotel - with an adjacent bunkhouse - and an outdoor shop selling a range of walking and mountain equipment. There is a caravan park but no facilities are provided here for tents. The Nature Reserve runs a small campsite with basic facilities one and a half miles north of the village at Taagan farm. This site is aimed at travellers and backpackers who wish to stay for a short period of one or two nights only but this makes a convenient staging post to explore the immediate vicinity.

From the road end at Incheril, just east of Kinlochewe, is a parking place and the start of the path that runs along the eastern side of Loch Maree. This path is used as the approach to Slioch or to give access to the southern area of the remote Fisherfield Forest behind - a circular route can be taken through Gleann Bianasdail to Locan Fada and then back via the Heights of Kinlochewe. The through route follows the old Postal Route along the eastern shoreline to Letterewe, then over higher ground to Poolewe at the head of Loch Ewe.

Kinlochewe is clearly a name that relates to the sea loch of Loch Ewe to the north west - presumably before the more recent name of Loch Maree was widely accepted.

Loch Clair and Loch Coulin

These two small lochs are situated a few miles to the south west of the village and can be reached by the Glen Torridon road. The Estate roads are closed to public vehicles but provide a popular walk along the shores of the lochs and giving excellant views of the Beinn Eighe ridge. This area formed the backdrop to a series of adverts in 1998 for Glenmorangie whisky where the punch line "The Glen of Tranquility" was much pushed - actually Glenmorangie is made miles away to the east but the scenery is superb. The map shows an old right of way that climbs the modest shoulder to the south of the river and promises a full panorama of the nmountain ranges to the north. The path starts along a slight ridge above the river bed until it meets the forest after a short 2 km. Here a sign states that "Walkers are Welcome" but requests that they follow the path. What path? After a couple of hundred yards along the deer fence a sign points apparently randomly into the trees - a route that is completely impassable. We started to climb around the trees in an effort to reach open ground above. But fallen trees made progress extremely difficult and the terrain was wet underfoot - this was the wet summer of 1998. The weather was not good anyway - it was raining by now - so we gave up and trudged back to the hotel for a drink.

We should have read the guidebooks - the Scottish Rights of Way Guide warns that the path is impossible to follow and walkers should use the lower level tracks round Loch Coulin and Loch Clair to the main road.

Tour North

The road north follows the western shoreline of the loch for some 20 km, past the Loch Maree Hotel, as far as Slattadale Forest. The road is two lane again and straight and fast. The Nature Reserve runs a visitor centre and mountain trail just north of Kinlochewe. Across the loch is one of the most popular mountainn views in Scotland to the hugh western buttresses of Slioch.

From Slattadale the road swings west towards Gairloch, although a path continues northwards first along the shoreside and then climbing inland to reach the road again just above Poolewe. This is not a long walk, being under 8km, but it cannot be tackled as a circular route unless you use the bus service or a second car to return by the much longer road route through Gairloch.

As the road reaches the head of the River Kerry, at Loch Bad an Sgalaig, the road reverts to single track as it descends the narrow valley following a large water pipeline. An obvious path crosses the river on the left by a wooden bridge and sets off into heart of Flowerdale Forest. The River Kerry is now part of a hydro-electric scheme, one of the first ones that was developed, that is not at all sympathetic to the terrain or the river. Virtually all the flow has been dammed and taken by pipeline to the power house below leaving the formerly impressive waterfalls in the valley dry.

At Kerrysdale a sideroad crosses the river by an arched bridge and continues alonmg the southern shore of Loch Gairloch through Badachro (nice litle pub here) to the road end at the sandy beaches of Redpoint. The main road continues to Gairloch which is now a major tourist centre with shops, hotels, camp sites and a golf course.