Beareraig Bay is a beautiful stony bay famous for its fossils - a short walk with a very steep path.
Summary
A very steep descent to the bay on a path with steps. Remember you'll have to climb back up! Could be slippery in the wet.
Terrain
NG516524
Grid ref
2km/1.25 miles
Distance
Grade
Parking bay at end of the Scottish Hydro Road from the Storr Lochs
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Bus number 57 from Portree - 4 times a day. Get off at end of Storr hydro road at bus shelter. Walk down this road 1km to walk
start.
Open Traveline Scotland
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Pronunciation
and meaning
1. Heading north on the main road from Portree, the Hydro road turns off on the right immediately after the Storr Lochs. There is a bus shelter next to the turning. Park in the bays at the end of the Hydro road by a cottage. A signpost marked 'To the Beach' indicates the route, behind a square flat roofed building. This is the winding house which pulls a carriage up and down a funicular track to the Hydro station below.
2. Head round the winding station to the left to reach a superb viewpoint of the bay below, with the Storr cliffs visible far above. Interpretative displays explain about the fossil finds and the geology. The path down to the bay starts on the seaward side of this viewing area, descending in a series of zigzags. It soon reaches a staircase cut out of the bare rocks above a huge drop - luckily this part has a handrail! Beyond the path continues zigzagging right down to the Hydro station on the beach.
3. The hydroelectric scheme, which includes the Storr Lochs on the moorland above, was built in 1952 and gave Skye its first electricity supply (apart from the Royal Hotel which had a generator). It has a capacity of 2.4MW, not nearly enough to supply the island's needs today. You can see the turbine through the windows. Go through the gate and head along the front wall of the building, passing above the water rushing out from the turbines.
4. Beyond the building, cross the stile. You should easily be able to cross the stream as most of the water now heads through the turbines instead. Head out onto the stony beach - looking out for otters which can sometimes be spotted swimming offshore.
5. At the far end of the bay crumbling cliffs reach down almost to the sea. Below these cliffs is the best place to hunt for fossils - at low tide. Afterwards, return back past the front of the hydro building. Before heading back up the steep path to the right, it's worth crossing the stile ahead and exploring the wave cut platforms at this end of the beach. If you round the corner of the bay you can see Holm Island just offshore - according to local legends this was Tir Na Nog, the land of eternal youth. It's necessary to reascend the path you came down in order to return to the start.
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