If you saw last week’s blog, you’ll know that we recently spent a week exploring the Isle of Mull in Scotland. We didn’t get the best weather, but we definitely managed to make the most of our time by squeezing in some shorter walks in between showers. After spending the first part of the week exploring some forestry walks close to our cottage and some walks on the north end of the island, we used the second half of the week to explore a bit further afield.
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Mackinnon’s Cave
A few days after our rather boggy outing up Speinne Mor, I was feeling recovered enough to brave another hike. Mull, I discovered once we arrived, is notorious for being extremely boggy – but I don’t think they are all quite as bad as Speinne Mor! (I recommend checking bog ratings on Walkhighlands, Speinne Mor is a 4/5 so quite high). To get back out there I picked another route from our Pocket Mountains guide, a 3.5km hike to see Mackinnon’s Cave.
The route starts from a dedicated parking area at the start of the walk – my resolve was immediately tested by the enormous bull lying down at the end of the car park! As Sam pointed out though, he looked extremely chilled out and so we set off down the road, me power walking and Sam following at a normal speed.
It’s not long before you pass through a gate and into a field where a muddy track heads along the coast. This track starts off rough but clear, then turns incredibly wet and boggy (passable with dry feet with careful placement), before disappearing but mercifully drying out. We followed a fence line to a gate, which we passed through and descended down a steep track to reach the shore.
From here, it’s rough walking, either following a grassy path above the shore or clambering over boulders on the beach. Either way it took us nearly an hour to walk the kilometre or so to the cave! It’s worth it though: Mackinnon’s Cave is an enormous sea cave and incredibly impressive. You can explore inside the cave, but if you want to go further than the entrance you’ll need to take a head torch as it’s pitch black inside. You might need to put your brave pants on though: according to local legend, a piper, his dog and twelve men went to explore the cave. Only the dog re-emerged, hairless and completely terrified. Enter if you dare…
Make sure to check tide times before you go as the cave is only accessible when the tide is halfway out or lower. It’s a linear route, so when we’d finished exploring the cave we retraced our steps back to the start – this time unfortunately I didn’t manage to dodge the bog and went in over my boots on both feet! Thankfully I had our paw buddy in the car, which does just fine on walking boots too. Slightly less scruffy, on our way home we stopped off for lunch at the dog friendly Glen Forsa cafe which I would highly recommend – they didn’t even mind my muddy trousers.
Dog friendly rating – 3/5. While there are no stiles on this walk, away from the shore you may come across both sheep and cows, although mostly we only saw sheep (just one big cow by the car park). It is a bit scrambly in places down by the shore, so your dog will need to be agile enough to clamber over rocks with you – I can’t imagine this being a problem for most dogs though.
Iona
When I posted on Instagram that we were going to Mull, literally dozens of people messaged me to say if we did one thing on Mull, we absolutely had to go to Iona. It was already pretty high on the list, but after so many recommendations we decided to save it for a nice day – and we were so glad we did.
We set off early, hoping to get to the ferry at Fionnphort earlier than the day trippers from the mainland arriving at Craignure at 10.40am (according to the information pack in our cottage). The drive down took us about an hour and a half, but it was stunning all the way. I especially enjoyed waiting for a few highland cows to move out of the road rather begrudgingly – I don’t mind them when I’m in the car!
We arrived in Fionnphort just in time to hop on the 10.30am ferry to Iona. The ferry is for foot passengers only, unless you have a vehicle permit (i.e. you’re a resident of Iona or a visiting tradesperson). There’s really no need to take a car to visit the island, which is only 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide.
The ferry runs back and forth regularly throughout the day, and your ticket is only restricted to the date, not a specific time. We pre-booked our tickets on the CalMac website on the day we visited, but you can purchase tickets at the terminal in Fionnphort too. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was – £8.20 return for both of us! That’s just £2.05 each, for each way (Dogs welcome on the ferry too). It takes about 10 minutes to reach Iona once you depart and the views are worth staying outside for.
There were quite a few people milling around near the ferry terminal when we disembarked, but the majority of people were making a beeline for the abbey (which, only being dog friendly outside, which you can see over the wall anyway, we didn’t visit), and after this point it immediately became much quieter. We followed a 7.5km route from our Pocket Mountains guide exploring the northern half of the island, and I have to say I think this was my favourite walk of the trip.
The walk heads up the road past the abbey (which is lovely and quiet thanks to the no cars on the ferry rule), before branching off to climb the small hill of Dun I. At only 100 metres or so above sea level, Dun I is pretty small, but it’s still the highest point on Iona and the climb up to the top is steep in places. It is however a fairly short climb: we were at the top in next to no time, and the views outweigh the effort needed by far.
Retracing our steps down Dun I when we’d finished soaking up the view, we returned to the road and continued heading north until we reached the end of the tarmac. Here we passed through a gate and crossed a field, soon turning off to descend onto a beach. Just around the corner from the more famous North End beach are three beautiful white sandy beaches, which get better and better the further you walk along them.
We spent an hour or so enjoying the beaches, which we had entirely to ourselves by some miracle, and the dogs loved splashing in the shallows. We then returned to the terminal via the road just in time to catch the 1.30pm ferry back to Fionnphort – perfect timing.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. Iona is a lovely place for a dog walk, but you might need to consider how your dog will cope with the ferry and being close to lots of people and other dogs. Coal actually coped brilliantly on the ferry out when someone with a dog sat opposite us, but on the way back we chose to sit inside (which we had to ourselves) to give him some space after a busy day. The ferry is surprisingly spacious, and you should be able to avoid dogs if you’re happy to abandon your chosen seat if someone with a dog sits near you. On the island itself, dogs should be on leads on the roads and fields (sheep grazing), but we were able to let ours have a good run on the beach. There were no stiles or other obstacles to navigate, and lots of the shops and cafes had water bowls outside for dogs to drink from.
Rubha nan Gall Lighthouse
Before we knew it, it was our last full day on the island. The forecast was (yet again) for heavy showers on and off all day, along with a bracing wind. Needing to pack and clean our cottage before we left, we chose a shorter 5.5km walk from our Pocket Mountains guide visiting Rubha nan Gall lighthouse near Tobermory.
Tobermory itself is more than worth a visit on its own, with its picturesque harbour and lots of independent shops and cafes. There’s a large free car park at the end of the main street, where we parked before setting off past all the shops (just about managing to resist temptation), eventually picking up a path just before the CalMac pier which heads up into some trees.
Navigation from this point is very straight forward, heading straight along the path and ignoring all turn offs until you eventually reach the lighthouse. Although you’re climbing uphill, it’s very gradual and you hardly notice the incline. To begin with the views are hidden by trees on either side of the path, before they open up and you start to get views across the coast and over to the lighthouse. As you near Rubha nan Gall you get a great view of Ben Hiant across the water on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula.
There’s a steep drop off to the side as you walk, but the path is broad and level enough that it never feels worrying at any point (although you might want to keep your dog on a lead). Keep your eyes on the coast as you walk – we saw a pod of dolphins feeding offshore while we were walking, and spent a while happily watching them until the dogs got fed up of standing around!
Just before you get to the lighthouse, it’s worth detouring just off the main path to the signposted viewpoint. There’s a great view of the lighthouse from here, as well as a panel identifying the nearby hills and landmarks.
Dog friendly rating – 2/5. Another one with no stiles or livestock, you will however need to keep your dog on the lead for all of this walk due road walking, sheer drops and signs asking for dogs to be kept on leads. We also found this walk to be the worst for ticks, flicking more than a dozen off Coal as we were walking (I stopped counting after 14). I’ve no idea why this walk was so much worse than the others – and they didn’t go for Merry at all (maybe they don’t like demon blood!).
Where we stayed
It took me a really long time to find somewhere dog friendly on Mull, that didn’t cost the earth and which had been decorated more recently than 1970 (although I feel like I say this about a lot of places!). In the end I booked Driftwood Cottage (property ref 938193) through Sykes, a two bedroom terraced cottage (one of four) overlooking the Sound of Mull, a short drive from the ferry terminal at Craignure. The cottage is in a great location for getting around the island – you won’t find many places more central.
Inside, the cottage is well appointed: more on the basic end of the scale, but comfortable and spacious, with everything you need for a week away. The views down over the sea are incredible – I’m also reasonably sure I saw a sea eagle hunting over the salmon farm opposite (can’t confirm without binoculars though), and we definitely saw a hen harrier hunting on the bank opposite the kitchen window.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. 2 dogs are allowed to join you here free of charge (woohoo). Inside is exactly what I look for in dog friendly accommodation, with hard floors which are easy to clean and plenty of space. The best thing about this cottage though is the two enclosed gardens – our dogs absolutely loved racing around outside to burn off some steam. The fence is only around 1 metre high though, so if you think your dog is likely to jump over the fence you will need to supervise them as there are horses in the field below.
I’ve just knocked off a point as a neighbour’s (very friendly) dog who roams the fields here freely jumped over the fence to come and say hello on our first day – which would be fine if Coal wasn’t so reactive to dogs. This wasn’t an issue for us after the first day though, as I text the cottage owner, who in turn contacted the dog’s owner, who made sure to keep him in sight/out of our garden while we were staying which was hugely appreciated.
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