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Seaweed-covered rocks and calm water looking to small wooded islands on Loch Sunart from the Garbh Eilean hide, hills beyond under grey cloud.
Lochaber

Garbh Eilean Wildlife Hide

A wooden wildlife hide on the shore of Loch Sunart, looking out to islands where common seals bask and herons nest.

Welcome

On the shore of Loch Sunart, a short walk from the car park, stands a handsome wooden hide built by local people from wood grown and milled in the area.

Through its long windows you look out over the water to two small islands.

The larger is Garbh Eilean, the Rough Island, where common seals often haul out to bask on the rocks. Herons nest on the smaller island beside it, and seabirds work the loch. Keep an eye on the sky too: golden eagles and white-tailed eagles are sometimes seen here, and otters fish along the shore. A telescope in the hide brings it all closer.

The hide sits among the Sunart Oakwoods, some of the finest temperate oakwoods in the British Isles. It is a short drive from Strontian along the loch. Bring patience, and binoculars if you have them.

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The Daily for 31 October, from Scotland with love. A ring of standing stones set among mist and autumn birch
A short drive awayCafe SunartThe village café in the centre of Strontian, at the head of Loch Sunart, open every day for breakfast and lunch.8 min by roadSee itA toasted sandwich at Cafe Sunart, with green salad, red cabbage slaw and crisps on a white plate.
Before you go

Open at any hour and free.

Where
Loch Sunart, west of Strontian.
Watch for
Common seals and herons.
In the hide
A telescope.

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Where it is

By the A861 on the shore of Loch Sunart, 10 to 15 minutes' drive from Strontian; the hide is close to the car park.

Close bySunart.
  1. Resipole Studios, LochaberResipole StudiosAn award-winning gallery of contemporary Scottish art on the shore of Loch Sunart, with four exhibition spaces and changing shows.2 miles 3 min by road
  2. A gravel path through the Ariundle oakwood in sunshine, old oaks on either side and thick moss over the roots and boulders.Ariundle OakwoodAn ancient Atlantic oakwood and National Nature Reserve in the glen of the Strontian River, just north of Strontian in Sunart.7 miles 12 min by road
  3. Ruined stone tower on a rocky headland above a tidal sandbankLoch MoidartThe sea loch to the north.10 miles 15 min by road
  4. A rocky headland juts into a loch beneath a cloud-covered mountainLoch SunartThe loch it looks over.15 miles 23 min by road
  5. Camas nan Geall seen from above, a curving bay of calm water and a shingle spit below green slopes, Ben Hiant rising beyond.Camas nan GeallThe Bay of the Strangers.15 miles 22 min by road
Directions
A toasted sandwich at Cafe Sunart, with green salad, red cabbage slaw and crisps on a white plate.CafeCafe Sunart5.5 miles
Two dolphins leap from the water near a rocky, heather-covered shorelineAttractionsArdnamurchan Charters9.6 miles
Ruined castle on a wooded loch shore beneath clear evening skyAttractionsCastle Tioram9.6 miles
The house's gabled wing with a decked terrace and two chairs, solar panels along the roof, seen across a grassy slope.GlenborrodaleBorradill HouseSleeps 6 · 10 miles
Borradill Cottage, ArdnamurchanGlenborrodaleBorradill CottageSleeps 4 · 10 miles
Loch Shiel stretching away between mountains from Glenfinnan, the monument on the green at its head.AttractionsLoch Shiel13 miles
Copper pot still and oak barrel beside a window overlooking a lochAttractionsArdnamurchan Distillery13 miles
Rolling grassland and wooded slopes lead towards distant Highland peaks under a partly cloudy skyAttractionsThe Seven Men of Moidart13 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the hide, and when each is next free.

Glenhurich Lodge, white-harled with dormer windows, at the end of its track behind a beech hedge, snow on the hills beyond.Glenhurich Lodge
  • Sleeps 11
  • In Glenhurich
  • 5 miles from the Garbh Eilean hide
Check datesThe house's gabled wing with a decked terrace and two chairs, solar panels along the roof, seen across a grassy slope.Borradill House
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenborrodale
  • 8 miles from the Garbh Eilean hide
Free 15–18 NovBorradill Cottage, ArdnamurchanBorradill Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glenborrodale
  • 8 miles from the Garbh Eilean hide
Free 29 Nov – 2 DecA white cottage with a grey slate roof stands behind a stone wall among trees on a hillside.The Old School
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Kingairloch
  • 8 miles from the Garbh Eilean hide
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in LochaberAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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