Glen Shiel

A hiking guide to Glen Shiel - North West Highlands

















Introduction
Glen Shiel has some of the most extensive rugged mountain scenery in the highlands. The only contestants to this claim lie in Knoydart and Lochaber. It has the sharpest peaks on the mainland covering such a large area and the large number of munros in the area act as testament to that fact. There are many classic walks to do in the area. The south Glen Shiel ridge traverses many fine summits while the Five Sisters of Kintail makes a classic picture postcard. The Saddle provides one of the exhilarating ridge scrambles in mainland Scotland while Beinn Fhada boasts some of the finest corries in the group.

Areas of Glen Shiel
For the purpose of this guide the area has been split into two areas:


 * North Glen Shiel
 * South Glen Shiel

Trip Reports
Glen Shiel April

Accommodation
Youth Hostel. This is a nice youth hostel with a great 'postcard' view up to the five sisters of Kintail. The drying room is effective but space is limited. The facilities were generally at an excellent standard. The warden knows the mountains like the back of his hand and is an excellent substitute for a guidebook!

Other places to stay include:


 * Tigh Iseabeal, Killilan, Tel:- 01599 588205
 * Fir, Dornie, Tel:- 01599 555264

Eating and Drinking
The pub closest to the hostel is the Kintail Lodge Hotel, It's about two road miles away (and about one water mile if you like swimming!).

A nice place to unwind after a hard day on the hill would be the Cluanie Inn just over the head of Glen Shiel. It is well presented inside and the bar staff were quite generous to the editor when he had to wait four hours for his coach last time giving him a free pot of tea! Mind you he imagines many pubs are like that anyway! There is also a restaurant at Shiel Bridge with more establishments towards Kyle of Lochalsh.

Travel
Scottish Citylink provide three coaches a day from Glasgow and another three from Inverness. It's cheaper to go via Fort William rather than Inverness when heading from Glasgow. They stop at the Cluanie Inn and Shiel Bridge. 