Torrin Pools – Waterfalls by Loch Slapin and a Shore Walk
A few hours.
The route
Two short walks in Strath, the country round Broadford on Skye.
The first follows a burn of little waterfalls and pools at Torrin, by Loch Slapin. The second runs along the shore road at Waterloo on Broadford Bay, with lunch in Broadford between the two.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Strath
Follow the burn at Torrin up through its falls for as long as you like, then drive back through Broadford for lunch, and finish with a stroll along the shore.
About 1 mile on foot
Torrin Pools
An attraction
The pools are on the Elgol road just past Torrin, where the road runs level beside Loch Slapin and a burn passes beneath it. Leave the car on the gravel on the right, heading for Elgol, once you're over the little bridge. Above the road the Allt Aisridh and the Allt an t-Sratha Bhig join and fall through a string of small waterfalls into clear, blue-green pools. There's no made path. On the left bank, looking upstream, a grassy slope climbs gently beside the water; the tracks on the right bank are narrow and steep, for the sure-footed, and you reach them by crossing the burn at the road. It's rough ground, not suited to anyone unsteady on their feet. Go as far as feels right, and turn for Blà Bheinn across the loch on the way down.
About 10 min by car
Waterloo Beach
An attraction
Back through Broadford, lunch is at the Broadford Hotel, at the foot of the Elgol road. Its restaurant has a view over Broadford Bay and serves lunch every day from noon to 2pm, with last orders at 1.45pm on Sundays. You can just turn up, whether or not you're staying, and there's a children's menu. On the road out towards the Skye Bridge, Waterloo is a township of white houses along one dead-end lane by the shore, between Harrapool and Breakish. There's space for about four cars in a small parking area on the left where the Waterloo Road begins; leave the lane itself clear for the driveways. It runs about a kilometre beside the shore to its end, a little over a mile there and back, with pebbles giving way to sand below and Beinn na Caillich across the bay. The rocks round Broadford are Jurassic, laid down under the sea, and fossil corals, shells and ammonites have been found in them.
If it rains
Both walks are out of doors, so bring waterproofs, and take longer over lunch at the Broadford Hotel.
On the way
- Cill Chriosd
The old parish church of Strath stands in ruins on a knoll above the Elgol road, with Beinn na Caillich rising behind and Loch Cill Chriosd to the west. Worship here is recorded from 1505, and the church served the parish until 1840, when a new one opened in Broadford. Park on the widened road opposite, by the information boards, and shut the graveyard gate after you to keep the sheep out. Old Celtic gravestones stand among the newer family ones.
Make it a weekend
