When we visited Wester Ross back in September we managed to pack a lot into our week away, despite (or perhaps because of) every day having one or two weather windows where we could pop out for a quick walk. We often ended up having a short walk in the morning, stopping somewhere dry for lunch and then heading back out for another brief stroll in the afternoon! I only included about two thirds of what we got up to in my blog write up (no one would want to read anything longer!) and I’ve kept the rest of the walks we did up my sleeve for a rainy day.
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On our final morning it was forecast to rain in pretty much everywhere in Wester Ross, so we decided to head north to explore Gruinard Bay in Easter Ross. We’d driven along the coast here earlier in the week on our way to Loch Na Sealga – and it’s one of the best coastal driving views you’ll find in the UK. Our Pocket Mountains guide included a short but pretty walk along the river from the beach to the waterfall at Eas Dubh, so we set off for a blustery but at least dry walk to pass the morning. If you don’t have the guidebook, there’s a similar route on Walkhighlands.
There’s a small pay & display car park along the main road, opposite the beach. It was nearly empty when we visited in mid September, but I can imagine it gets busier in the peak summer season with the NC500 reaching unprecedented levels of popularity over the last few years. From the car park, cross the road to reach the beach: a beautiful sweep of sand and pebbles with the sea crashing dramatically along the shore. It’s hard to get your head around the fact there’s a road so close by when your surroundings are so wildly beautiful. When we were here, the water was a gorgeous shade of azure blue with patches of navy and turquoise: I really don’t believe there’s any country with a more beautiful coastline than Scotland. The beach here is sometimes home to seals but we sadly didn’t see any on this occasion.
After a short stroll along the beach (punctuated by many forays into the surf by the dogs) we crossed back over the road to pick up a grassy trail running along the river. You can choose straight ahead or diagonally left after passing through the gate by the road: we went straight ahead and ended up crawling through a bramble thicket along the river bank, so you may wish to try the faint grassy trail which goes diagonally left!
The path quickly becomes stony and sometimes uneven (wet in places) but it is mostly flat, with no horrendously steep sections. In next to no time you reach the crashing falls of Eas Dubh (Gaelic for dark or black waterfall) and the path comes to an end: stop and enjoy the spectacle before turning around and re-tracing your steps back to the car (we happily managed to avoid the brambles on the second attempt).
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. The beach at Gruinard Bay is dog friendly and ours absolutely loved it here. We didn’t come across any livestock on the path along the river and therefore Coal got to spend most of this walk off the lead, but Merry had to stay on the lead just in case. There were no stiles to navigate, but care should be taken when crossing the main road.
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Great photos.
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Thank you! ☺️