Kylerhea – Otters, Seals and Sea Eagles
A few hours.
The route
Kylerhea looks across the fast tidal narrows between Skye and the mainland, and Forestry and Land Scotland's hide above the shore is built for waiting for otters.
Seals, porpoises and white-tailed sea eagles use the strait too. It suits anyone happy to sit still and quiet with a pair of binoculars.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Kinloch Lodge, 7 miles away.
Then Eilean Sionnach Lighthouse Cottage, 8 miles away. Sleeps 8.
The day
Kylerhea
A short walk above the shore to the hide, and as long as patience allows inside it. Bring binoculars and a flask: there's no café here.
About two hoursAbout 1.5 miles on foot
Kylerhea Otter Haven
An attraction
The Kylerhea car park is at the end of the single-track road over Glen Arroch, steep with tight bends, just before the village. Parking costs £2 for up to an hour, £3 for up to three hours and £4 for the day, by card or RingGo; Blue Badge holders park free. The toilets by the car park open from 1 April to 31 October. The trail to the hide is wide gravel with some short, steep slopes and muddy patches, 1.25 miles there and back: allow three-quarters of an hour for the walk. The hide, free and open all year, looks over the fast tidal narrows of Kyle Rhea. Otters can turn up at any hour, though early morning, evening and the hours either side of low tide are good times to wait; seals are the likelier sight, and porpoises and white-tailed sea eagles pass through. Sit still and quiet, and never follow an otter along the shore. Keep a dog on a lead. In October 2026 there are works on the forest road and car park: follow the signs. Check for ticks afterwards.
If it rains
The hide has a roof and windows over the narrows; the walk to it is in the open.
Shore Station Café, a café in Glenelg.
Photographs by 王進達JD Wang and Biaso via Google