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Inside the wooden hide at Loch Gruinart, benches below a row of windows on the marsh.
Isle of Islay

Loch Gruinart

The RSPB reserve at the head of Loch Gruinart, winter home to as many as 24,000 geese, with a visitor centre, hides and trails.

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Welcome

Loch Gruinart is a shallow sea loch that bites four miles inland on Islay.

The land at its head, 1,667 hectares of saltmarsh, mudflats and grassland ringed by moor, has been an RSPB reserve since 1984, and a working farm looks after it, producing food while catering for wildlife. Each winter about 45 per cent of the world's Greenland barnacle geese visit, and as many as 24,000 geese have been counted here at once. The reserve is also a haven for corncrakes, hen harriers, lapwings, redshanks, hares and otters.

The visitor centre stands in the farmyard south-west of the head of the loch, with an upper gallery whose big windows look out over the reserve. A quarter of a mile north is the hide car park, where a gate leads to a viewing platform, and two signposted trails start there: a woodland trail of 1.5 kilometres and a moorland trail of 2. A favourite way in is by bike from Uiskentuie along the B8017.

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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 little further outCaol Ila DistilleryThe distillery on the Sound of Islay near Port Askaig, the Islay Home of Johnnie Walker, with tours from £21 and views to Jura.25 min by roadSee itCaol Ila Distillery
Before you go

The reserve is open 24 hours and the visitor centre is open daily, 10am to 5pm.

It is free to visit and there is no need to book.

Where
Aoradh, Loch Gruinart, Bridgend, Isle of Islay, PA44 7PP. Signed from the A847 Bridgend to Bruichladdich road, 3 miles from the turn-off.
Open
The nature reserve is open 24 hours. The visitor centre and toilets are open 10am to 5pm daily, except Christmas and New Year.
Price
Free for adults, children and seniors, members and non-members alike. There is no need to book.
Parking
A car park in the farmyard at the visitor centre, with a level Blue Badge bay, and a second car park for the hide and trails 360 metres away. Both are surfaced with rolled stone.
Dogs
Dogs under close control are welcome. Only registered assistance dogs are allowed in the hides, and livestock are present all year.
Trails
The Woodland Trail is 1.5 km (1 mile) and the Moorland Trail 2 km (1.25 miles). The South Hide is 300 metres from the hide car park, and the North Hide, reached by a step, is 800 metres.
Access
The Woodland Trail has a mix of surfaces including rolled slate, and the viewing platform has wheelchair access, with width restrictions and a boardwalk with steps beyond. The Moorland Trail is not suitable for wheelchairs. The upper gallery of the visitor centre is reached by two stairways.
Getting there
There is no bus to the reserve: the nearest stop is on the A847 Bridgend to Bruichladdich road, a three-mile walk away. All CalMac sailings from Kennacraig go to Port Askaig while Port Ellen is closed for upgrades (from 2 June 2026, expected to reopen in 2029), or fly from Glasgow to Islay Airport.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–5pm
Tuesday
10am–5pm
Wednesday
10am–5pm
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
10am–5pm

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Where it is

Loch Gruinart, Bridgend, Isle of Islay, PA44 7PP.

Close byAt the head of Loch Gruinart.
  1. Ruined stone chapel with gabled walls surrounded by weathered gravestones and a Celtic crossKilnave Chapel and CrossA roofless medieval chapel and an 8th-century cross on the shore of Loch Gruinart, scene of a clan battle in 1598.3 miles 11 min by road
  2. Saligo BaySaligo BayA west-coast bay of sand and rocks, known for its light, with the Sleeping Giant rock formation to the north.5 miles 10 min by road
  3. The Kilchoman kiln with its pagoda roof beside the farm road.Kilchoman DistilleryIslay's family-run farm distillery at Rockside Farm, making whisky from barley grown in its own fields.6 miles 13 min by road
  4. Surf rolling onto the beach under a wide sky.Machir BayA long Atlantic beach of pale sand below the dunes at Kilchoman on Islay, overlooked by the Otranto war graves.6 miles 13 min by road
  5. Bruichladdich DistilleryBruichladdich DistilleryA Victorian distillery on the shore of Loch Indaal making Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Octomore and The Botanist gin, with tours from £15.7 miles 12 min by road
  6. Port Charlotte HotelPort Charlotte HotelA small hotel by the beach in Port Charlotte, with sea-view rooms, seafood platters and live music in summer.8 miles 15 min by road
Directions
The long white building of the Celtic House on the corner, its windows along two streets.ShoppingThe Celtic House9.2 miles
Peatzeria's whitewashed building on Shore Street, Bowmore, with its belfry and pointed windows.RestaurantsPeatzeria9.2 miles
Bowmore Distillery, Isle of IslayAttractionsBowmore Distillery9.3 miles
The Harbour Inn and its neighbours by the harbour in Bowmore, the loch beyond.RestaurantsHarbour Inn9.3 miles
Bowmore, Isle of IslayAttractionsBowmore9.3 miles
The whitewashed front of the Bowmore Hotel on Jamieson Street, its name across the gable.RestaurantsBowmore Hotel9.3 miles
The long bar at the Ballygrant Inn, stools along the counter and shelves of whisky behind.BarsBallygrant Inn11 miles
The drive up to An Gleann, a white cottage behind its gate and hedges.ShoppingAn Gleann Tablet12 miles
Two crumbling stone gables of a ruined castle rise beside a lochAttractionsFinlaggan Castle13 miles

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We want to show you the best that Scotland has to offer. The makers and the creatives, the enduring experiences, the evocative tales, the concealed corners. The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We’d love for you to join us.

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What we have written about it and more on Islay.

From the magazineThe Wintering Geese of IslayArticleScotland in WinterArticleThe Quieter Side of Islay
More on Islay
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .