Gruinard Bay and the Eas Dubh falls

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This short walk combines a visit to a beautiful sandy beach with a brief but rough hike up a beautiful glen to reach an attractive waterfall.

Terrain

The path up the glen can be boggy and indistinct in parts.

Public Transport

None.

Start

Little Gruinard beach car park. Map and directions.

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Grade (key)

Bog Factor (key)

Walk Statistics

Distance: 3km / 2 miles
Time: 1 hour
Ascent: 90m (Profile)
Start Grid Ref: NG952899

Maps / GPS

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Accommodation

Walk Description

Stage 1

Gruinard Bay ranks amongst the finest sandy bays in this part of the Highlands - a beautiful sweep of golden sand, especially at low tide; it is seen particularly well from an elevated layby a short distance west along the main road. The walk itself begins from the car park east of the river near Little Gruinard.

Stage 2

Cross over the road and go down the wooden broadwalk to reach the sands of Gruinard beach. Turn left along the beach; before reaching the river, look out for a path leading back up the dunes - this leads back to the road at a pedestrian gate.

Stage 3

Turn right along the road (care - it can be busy) for a short distance before turning left through the gate just before the bridge. The path - initially more of a muddy ATV track - swings left to avoid the gorse bushes, but it's worth detouring for a look upriver first.

Stage 4

Back on the muddy track, this soon becomes an indistinct path - follow the clearest trod past the area of gorse bushes, eventually losing a little height. The path becomes clearer as it runs along a short distance above the river, and eventually it runs beside the water itself.

Stage 5

After about a kilometre and a half the path reaches a viewpoint for the Eas Dubh a Ghlinne Ghaibh, a fine and very attractive waterfall. The path does continue further upstream but runs across a steep slope above a gorge, and it isn't really possible to make a circular walk, so it is probably better to return the same way. Rather than head back across the beach, it is possible to shortcut from near the end of the glen section to head more directly down to a stile giving access to the car park.

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