"Which cottage is it? Well, it's white and, er, there's another white one next to it...
...er, did I say it was white?"
Elgol village with the Black Cuillins behind, from the road to Glasnakille
Elgol
If you like getting away from it all, Elgol makes a great base on Skye. The road down from Broadford along the shore of Loch Slapin is beautiful, a great drive and takes about 35 minutes. Elgol has one of the best views in Britain, right into the heart of the Black Cuillin mountains (see photo above), and the harbour offers boat trips to Loch Coriusk and to / around the Small Isles - Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna (see part III).
We stayed at the lovely Cnoc na Loch cottage and we can definitely recommend it - comfy and cosy with a great view form the garden and an outdoor hot tub...not to mention the drumming Snipe overhead and Cuckoos being mobbed by Meadow Pipits! The village has a fantastic seafood restaurant, Coruisk House (the seafood platter was immense), and the Cuillin View café's scones (try the cherry and sultana) made it a regular stop-off spot! There's also a small shop and post office, though no pub so stock up on the local beers from the Isle of Skye Brewery in the Broadford Co-op or pick up a bottle of the island malt, Talisker.
Spar Cave
A beautiful and interesting walk from Elgol is along the Loch Slapin coast to Spar Cave - a 150ft long limestone cathedral of marble-like flowstone staircases and stalactites (though Victorians took most as souvenirs). This walk needs some thought and planning; the cave, near Glasnakille at NG537130, is only accessible for an hour either side of low tide. Check the tide times for Loch Harport.
Photo by georgep008, under Creative Commons licence
You can of course just park up at Glasnakille, near the phone box, but we did it on foot from Elgol, walking east up the B8083 for a mile and turning left onto the quarry road. The track soon peters out into a footpath through some scrub and then a small woodland valley before the single track road starts again. The view across Loch Slapin is lovely and a male Hen Harrier treated us to a memorable flypast.
The coast above Spar Cave
From Glasnakille, follow directions on WalkHighlands for crossing from the road to the coast (see above), descending the steep path (left) and rounding the coast to the cave's inlet safely (right).
The cave floor is muddy at first but, as the cave turns right, becomes formed of spar or flowstone, sheet-like deposits of calcite from the water running down the floor and walls. Take at least two torches...
This huge cave has a fantastic atmosphere and the first 45 feet can be easily accessed on foot. Beyond this, climbing and caution are required as you ascend the flowstone staircase. In fact we, just admired this from the bottom, unaware of just how beautiful the cave was further on! It was still well worth the trip though and it's a good reason to go back!
From Spar Cave inlet looking south-east along the coast
The shore around the inlet is beautiful and, once your visit is over and if the tide isn't rushing in, it's worth spending some time here. As well as a Black Guillemot bobbing offshore, another party of cave explorers turned up by boat - how flash! After scrambling back up to the road, we finished our walk using the road to Elgol; allow three hours for the whole walk plus two more for the leg out to the cave. Anyone for a scone?
Looking north-west from the inlet across Loch Slapin
