With a promising forecast in mid-March, my friend Victoria and I considered a few options for a day of walking in the Highlands. In the end, we chose Beinn Ghobhlach, which is located on the Scoraig peninsula, between between Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom on the north-west coast. It was my first time on this peninsula but I plan to return again for a walk or run along the coast from Badrallach to the small off-grid community of Scoraig.
To reach Beinn Ghobhlach
We drove for about 1.5 hours from Inverness to Badrallach. Turning off the main Ullapool road, the A835, at the Braemore juntion (close to Corriesshalloch Gorge), the journey continued on the A832 before we turned once again on to a narrow tarmac road that climbed northwards on the Scoriag peninsula before then dropping westwards.
At the end of the road we discovered a tiny settlement of Badrallach – there is a campsite. bothy and holiday cottage here – and some limited parking. You should aim to reach the very end of the tarmac for parking.
The walk of Beinn Ghobhlach
The road becomes a track and then a path. There is a sign that tells you it’s 8km along the coast to Scouraig. We followed this for a couple of kilometres and then spotted a cairn at the side of the path, which we presumed was an indictor to head uphill on rough ground. There was little evidence of a trod so we continued on the path for a little way before making our own route uphill.
It was clear others had done the same and as we climbed up beside a small burn we came across bits and pieces of trod. The gradient was fairly steep from the outset and the ground was rough and boggy in places.
Sheltered form the wind and in lovely sunshine, Victoria and I were able to shed a couple of outer clothing layers and enjoy some warm weather (for the time being!). The views looking back over our shoulders were stunning, with Little Loch Broom below, Sail Mhòr rising up to the west and the snow capped ridge of An Teallach dominating the more distant backdrop. The higher we climbed, the more peaks we could see, including some of the remote summits of the Fisherfield forest.
It wasn’t too long before we reached two mountain lochs, Loch na h-Uidhe and Loch na Coireig, which we walked between. Looking up and ahead, the land rose steeply and Victoria and I discussed which line we would ascend. “Straight up, then right” we both said. We needed to weave in and out of a few rocky outcrops but the direction was generally north until we found ourselves on a wide ridge, where we turned east.
At higher altitude a cold wind suddenly started to buffet us. The gradient eased a bit until we could see a shelter cairn at the highest point on 635m tall Beinn Ghobhlach. The views in every direction were spectacular, with Ullapool to our east, sitting on the shore of Loch Broom; some of the mountains of Assynt, including Canisp, further north; west across the sea to the islands of the Outer Hebrides; and south towards the mountains we had already gazed at in Wester Ross.
With a very chilly and strong wind, we were grateful to be able to sit inside the walls of the cairn to eat our lunch.
A longer ridge circuit
As we stood up to head on to walk a wide rocky ridge to our north, we spotted the only other people we had seen on the mountain. Two women approached the summit from the east. We chatted for a short while and one of the women revealed that her dad had recommended the route as the location for a great walk. He is a wise man.
As the pair enjoyed the shelter of the cairn, Victoria and I headed off to walk the ridge. We descended north and then turned west. To the north we caught glimpses of steep crags below us. The ridge was wide enough not to worry about the steep drop, although the wind seemed to be keen to push us towards it. We gave the edge a wide berth and then, after about 700m, we dropped south into Coire Dearg.
Finally, our steep descent took us away from the wind again and we consulted the map. We needed to take care to avoid steep crags below us, which we did by veering more westerly than directly south. We could see the coastal path below in the distance but, first, there was a long tramp on very rough and often boggy ground.
The complete walk is not long at less than 12km, but it’s one with a fair amount of total ascent (880m) and with very few trods so our legs were feeling quite fatigued by the time we reached the path.
Looking north-east along the peninsula, we could see some of the houses of Scouraig in the distance. We turned in the opposite direction and walked back towards Badrallach.
The path was surprisingly undulating with several hikes uphill as the route negotiates a way between high crags to the north and steep ground descending to the sea to the south.
It was a wonderful walk on a very wild coastline with more fantastic views.
Eventually, we passed the point on the path that we had left earlier to ascend Beinn Ghobhlach and then regained Badrallach and our vehicle.
I highly recommend this mountain but make sure you reserve for a day with good visibility because you don’t want to miss out on the superb vistas of sea, mountain and a remote peninsula.
Beinn Ghobhlach: The details
Distance: 11.8km
Total ascent: 880m