A very easy walk to a truly enchanting sandy bay, the finest on Skye. The setting is superb, with a dramatic sea stack, and great cliffs down which a waterfall plunges to the sea. Magical on a fine evening.
A very easy short walk.
None to start.
Near end of minor road to Talisker.
Park carefully near the end of the tarmac road to Talisker (the tiny settlement, and not the Talisker distillery which is actually at Carbost). Take care not to block the turning area, or any passing places - parking further back along the road as necessary (there's an old quarry on the left at one point). The walk begins along the left hand track from the road end; there is a sign reading 'To the bay'. After passing a gate, the track emerges at the side of Talisker House. This stately white house dates from the 1720s and for centuries was the home of the next-in-line to the Macleod chief. Dr Johnson and James Boswell stayed here during their tour of the Hebrides, Boswell writing 'Talisker is a better place than one commonly finds in Sky. It is situated in a rich bottom. Before it is a wide expanse of sea, on each hand of which are immense rocks; and, at some distance to the sea, there are three columned rocks rising to sharp points. The billows break with prodigious force and noise on the coast of Talisker. There are here a good many well grown trees.'
The track continues through a further gate beyond the house. Looking back, the prominent dome-shaped hill ringed by cliffs is Preshal Mòr . Boswell ascended this with Donald MacLean, the then Laird of Coll; the route up the cliffs is known as Boswell's Buttress and is quite a scramble.
The track rises slightly before emerging at the southern end of Talisker Bay. Talisker Bay is a beautiful beach of stones and sand, best visited at low tide. The northern side of the bay is hemmed in by vertical cliffs and an impressive waterfall.
The southern end of the beach has an impressive sea stack. There is both black and white and on the beach, often blended by the burns flowing out to create beautiful, complex patterns.
The bay is a wonderful place to linger and is especially renowned for its sunsets.
When you can drag yourself away from the beach, the return to the start is back the same way.
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