Leitir Easaidh – A Smooth Path to a Loch below Quinag
About 1.7 miles on foot.
Most of Assynt asks for boots and strong legs, but not this corner of it.
At Little Assynt, on land the community owns, a smooth surfaced path runs out from the roadside to a small hill loch with the long cliffs of Quinag behind it. It was built for wheelchairs, and it gives everyone a way into this wild country.
- Time
- About an hour: 1.7 miles (2.7 km) on a firm, surfaced path built to suit wheelchairs.
- The path
- A firm, even, surfaced path, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
- Where to start
- The Leitir Easaidh car park beside the A837, about five miles east of Lochinver. IV27 4HB is the nearest postcode.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January arrive by 2pm. The Lochinver Larder is shut on Sundays and Mondays.
- Dogs
- Under close control: the paths are inside a deer fence.
- Children
- An easy path to a loch with a shelter. Keep small children close at the water.
- Toilets
- Composting toilets beside the path, with wheelchair access.
- Before you set out
- Open moorland with no cover before the loch.
The walk
Park in the Leitir Easaidh car park beside the A837, about five miles east of Lochinver. IV27 4HB is the nearest postcode. The path starts at the car park. The Culag Community Woodland Trust, which owns Little Assynt and looks after it for the people of Assynt, built it to suit wheelchair users, and it's firm and even underfoot. AllTrails gives the walk as 1.7 miles and about three quarters of an hour, though you'll want longer at the water.
The path crosses open moorland with young pine and birch to the shore of Loch Leitir Easaidh. At the loch there's a stone shelter with a heather roof, a picnic table and a jetty, with boats adapted so that anglers who can't step down into one can still fish. Behind it all runs the long wall of Quinag. There are composting toilets beside the path, with wheelchair access. If you'd like to go further, a link path joins a longer gravel loop round Loch an t-Sabhail.
The estate is some three thousand acres of lochs, bog and young woodland below Quinag's cliffs, and the paths lie inside its deer fence, so keep dogs under close control. There's no café here. In Lochinver, the Lochinver Larder is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. This is open country with no cover before the loch, so bring a windproof. From November to January, arrive by 2pm.
If it rains
The path stays firm in the wet, which is the point of it, but there's no cover until the shelter at the loch. Bring waterproofs and it's still a good short walk.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Campbell Zero One via Google