Milovaig – A Crofting Township above Loch Pooltiel
About 2 miles on foot.
Milovaig is a crofting township at the end of the Glendale road in the north-west of Skye, strung along a hillside above Loch Pooltiel.
Glendale's own community guide describes a two-mile round of it, about an hour. It's a small walk with a big view, across the loch to sea cliffs with burns falling down them and out over the Minch to the Outer Hebrides.
- Time
- About an hour: 2 miles round the township from the pier.
- The path
- A steep township road, then rough hill ground and a burn side. Boots.
- Where to start
- By Milovaig pier, at the end of the road through Glendale. Keep the slipway and croft gates clear.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 2pm.
- Dogs
- On a lead: the moor is the township's common grazing.
- Children
- A short walk for children who can manage a steep road. Keep hold of small ones by the pools on the burn.
- Before you set out
- A working crofting township: sheep graze the moor beside the road.
The walk
Start at Milovaig pier on Loch Pooltiel, at the end of the road through Glendale. Park by the pier, clear of the slipway and of every croft gate. Glendale's own community guide gives the round as two miles and an hour, and suggests it for an evening. It's a loop round a working crofting township: up the steep road from the pier, through Lower and Upper Milovaig, and back down beside a burn to the shore. A short climb off the road brings you to the top of the hill between the township and the loch. From there the view takes in the whole of Loch Pooltiel and the Minch, out to the Outer Hebrides on a clear day.
Across the water, burns fall straight down dark sea cliffs into the loch, and they're at their best after rain. The moor beside the road is the township's common grazing, so expect sheep and keep a dog on a lead. The burn on the way down runs through a string of small pools. The guide lists trout, eels and grey wagtails there, and now and then an otter. It asks for care at the pools, so keep hold of small children. Seals haul out on the skerries in the loch.
One croft sells eggs from an honesty box, so bring some coins. The loch's name is said to remember Diel, a Viking prince: the Pool of Diel. Part of the round is on rough hill ground off the road, so wear boots. Don't count on toilets here. From November to January, set off by 2pm. Café Lephin, two kilometres back along the road, serves coffee and lunch: ring 01470 511465 before you count on it.
If it rains
The hilltop is open to the weather and the off-road ground is wet, so in rain keep to the township road. The burns on the cliffs across the loch are fullest just after it.
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.