Five of the best short walks on the Isle of Mull: wildlife, castles and Hebridean beaches

Aros Park

Summary: A circular walk around Tobermory Bay and through estate woodland to an ornamental lake, with picture-postcard views back to Tobermory
Start/finish: Aros Park, Tobermory
Time: 1hr 30min 
Distance: 5.5 km (3.5 miles)
Climb: 190m

Aros Park serves as Tobermory's green lung, a managed estate woodland that draws visitors in all seasons for its rich canopy of ash, rowan, hazel, birch, beech, oak and various pine, with rhododendron providing colour in spring. The centrepiece is an ornamental lake carpeted with water lilies, a serene contrast to the busy harbourside a short walk away. In late summer, the woodland edges offer a bounty of brambles for those who time their visit well.

The route loops around Tobermory Bay before climbing into the estate woodland, rewarding walkers with picture-postcard views back across the harbour to Tobermory's famous row of brightly painted houses. The path is well-surfaced and straightforward throughout, making this one of the most accessible walks in the guidebook and an ideal first outing for those new to Mull.

Best time to visit: Spring for rhododendron colour and birdsong; late summer for brambles and the warmest light on Tobermory's harbourside. Pleasant year-round as the woodland provides shelter in poor weather.

Ardmore Shore Trail

Summary: A poignant walk through abandoned villages and cleared woodland, now rich with wildflowers and wildlife
Start/finish: Ardmore forest car park
Time: 2hr
Distance: 7.5 km (4.5 miles)
Climb: 170m

This walk is heavy with sorrow and history, yet it is a delightful amble offering plentiful opportunity to observe wildlife. Ardmore was once a settlement of 14 townships, a cluster of agricultural smallholdings buried under commercial forestry in the 20th century. Nearby Penalbanach, a 19th-century farm, suffered the same fate, but as the forest has now been largely cleared, fern-clad, roofless dwellings survive as a quiet reminder that people once lived and worked on this stretch of Mull's coastline.

The route follows the shore through recovering open ground where the cleared forest has given way to wildflowers and wildlife, the landscape carrying an atmosphere of loss that is nonetheless beautiful in its own way. With no cafes on the route itself, the nearest refreshment options are Sgriob-ruadh Farm and Tobermory, both worth seeking out before or after the walk.

Best time to visit: Late spring and early summer, when the recovering woodland ground is at its most colourful and the wildlife is most active. The coastal sections offer good birdwatching at any time of year.

Glengorm Castle and Dùn Ara

Summary: An easy walk to the remains of a coastal fort, passing standing stones and a 19th-century castle
Start/finish: Glengorm Castle
Time: 2hr
Distance: 6 km (3.75 miles) 
Climb: 135m

The walk begins at Glengorm Castle, a 19th-century pile at the northern tip of Mull, and wanders through forest-cleared areas that now open out to rolling countryside views before crossing undulating pastureland to Dùn Ara, a small Iron Age fort set dramatically on a hilly knuckle overlooking the sea. It is the kind of place you could linger for hours, sea-watching for the wildlife that moves through these waters.

Standing stones mark the route between the castle and the fort, adding another layer of antiquity to a walk that already spans several thousand years of human activity. The estate cafe at Glengorm provides a welcome stop towards the end of the route, and the dedicated walkers' car park just inside the castle grounds is free to use. The cafe here is open from March to October. 

Best time to visit: Spring and summer for the best visibility from Dùn Ara and the longest evenings for sea-watching. The estate cafe makes this a particularly appealing choice when the weather is uncertain.

Livingstone Croft Trail

Summary: A delightful wander around the island of Ulva, passing the ancestral croft of a Victorian explorer, with fine views of Ben More
Start/finish: The Boathouse, Ulva
Time: 2hr
Distance: 8 km (5 miles)
Climb: 225m

Ferry required: Ulva is reached by a small passenger ferry from the Mull shore. Check current crossing times before visiting, as the service is seasonal.

The Livingstone Croft Trail explores the lush woodlands, headlands and valleys of Ulva, circling the prominent upthrust known as A' Chrannag. Along the way, the route passes the ruin of a croft believed to have been occupied by relatives of David Livingstone, the Victorian explorer and missionary. The connection gives the walk a pleasing biographical thread, though the scenery needs no such embellishment: the path clings as long as possible to the coastline, drawing every last ounce of pleasure from Ulva's remarkably varied shoreline.

Ben More, Mull's highest peak, dominates the view across the sound for much of the route, providing a fine backdrop to what is otherwise a gentle and waymarked coastal amble. The Boathouse cafe at the ferry terminal provides refreshments at the start and end.

Best time to visit: Late spring through early autumn, when the ferry operates and the woodland is in full leaf. Check ferry times on the Isle of Ulva website. The views of Ben More are at their clearest on still days after rain has cleared. 

Camas Cùil an t-Saimh and Iona South

Summary: A dramatic walk to the rugged southern end of Iona, via golden sands and a hidden lochan
Start/finish: Iona ferry slip
Time: 2hr 30min
Distance: 8 km (5 miles)
Climb: 165m

Ferry required: Iona is reached by CalMac ferry from Fionnphort at the southwestern tip of Mull. Bus 496 connects Craignure and Fionnphort. A large, free car park is available at Fionnphort.

This circuit of Iona's southern end visits one of the most historically significant spots in Scottish Christianity. The walk passes close to the site where St Columba is believed to have landed on Iona in AD 563, having sailed from Ireland to establish the monastery that would become one of the great centres of early Christian learning in Europe.

The route crosses first to Camas Cùil an t-Saimh, a beach of golden sand backed by Atlantic machair, before heading south through increasingly rugged terrain to a lonely lochan. Beyond the lochan, the views across the sound towards Mull and the outer islands are a compelling reason to stop and take stock before completing the circuit back to the ferry slip.

Best time to visit: Late spring and summer for the best beach conditions and the full splendour of the coastal machair in flower. Iona is a popular destination and the walks feel quieter in spring and autumn outside the main visitor season.