This guidebook describes 45 walks on the popular and accessible Isle of Arran. The routes are between 3 and 19 miles (5-31km) in length, ranging in difficulty from easy, waymarked forest trails to more arduous mountain walks, exposed ridge routes and scrambles. The book includes both linear and circular walks, and there are opportunities to link routes together and create longer walks across the length and breadth of the island. Also included is a summary of the 110km Arran Coastal Way.
Highlights include Goatfell, Beinn Nuis, Beinn Tarsuinn, the Sannox Horseshoe, Glen Rosa, the Cock of Arran and nearby Holy Isle. All the routes are clearly described and illustrated with OS 1:50,000 mapping, with extra notes revealing the archaeology, history and natural wonders of the island. The guide includes background information on travel to Arran, public transport, and a Gaelic/English glossary.
There's something here to suit walkers of all fitness levels and abilities. Often described as 'Scotland in miniature', Arran boasts a rich variety of landscapes, with mountains, coast, moorland and forest, and the walks have been chosen to showcase this diversity. For an island, travel to and from Arran is remarkably easy: it is not far from Glasgow, from where onward connections are swift and frequent.
CONTENTS
Overview map
Map key
Route summary table
Introduction
Getting to Arran
Getting around Arran
Finding your bearings
A geology classroom
A turbulent history
Land ownership and access
Island animals
Island plants
Accommodation
Food and drink
Maps
The walks
Tourist information
Emergency services
The walks
Walk 1 Goatfell and Brodick
Walk 2 Brodick Castle Forest Trails
Walk 3 Brodick and the Clauchland Hills
Walk 4 Sithein and Glen Cloy
Walk 5 Sithein and The Ross
Walk 6 Holy Isle from Lamlash
Walk 7 Tighvein and Monamore Glen
Walk 8 Glenashdale and Urie Loch
Walk 9 Glenashdale Falls and Giants’ Graves
Walk 10 Eas Mòr and Loch Garbad
Walk 11 Kilmory Forest Circuit
Walk 12 The Ross and Cnoc a’ Chapuill
Walk 13 Shiskine and Clauchan Glen
Walk 14 Bridgend and Ard Bheinn
Walk 15 The String and Beinn Bhreac
Walk 16 Machrie Moor Stone Circle
Walk 17 Dougarie and Beinn Nuis
Walk 18 Dougarie and Sail Chalmadale
Walk 19 Imachar and Mullach Buidhe
Walk 20 Pirnmill and Mullach Buidhe
Walk 21 Coire-Fhionn Lochan
Walk 22 Catacol and Meall nan Damh
Walk 23 Catacol and Beinn Bhreac
Walk 24 Catacol and Beinn Tarsuinn
Walk 25 Lochranza and Meall Mòr
Walk 26 Gleann Easan Biorach
Walk 27 Lochranza and Cock of Arran
Walk 28 Lochranza and Sail an Im
Walk 29 North Glen Sannox Horseshoe
Walk 30 Glen Sannox Horseshoe
Walk 31 Glen Sannox to Glen Rosa
Walk 32 Sannox, Goatfell and Corrie
Walk 33 Glen Rosa and Beinn Tarsuinn
Walk 34 Western Glen Rosa
Walk 35 Eastern Glen Rosa
Arran Coastal Way
Walk 36 Brodick to Sannox (forest)
Walk 37 Brodick to Sannox (mountain)
Walk 38 Sannox to Lochranza
Walk 39 Lochranza to Imachar
Walk 40 Imachar to Blackwaterfoot
Walk 41 Blackwaterfoot to Lagg (coastal)
Walk 42 Blackwaterfoot to Lagg (inland)
Walk 43 Lagg to Whiting Bay (coastal)
Walk 44 Lagg to Whiting Bay (inland)
Walk 45 Whiting Bay to Brodick
Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Gaelic/English glossary
Maps
The maps used throughout this guidebook are extracted from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 69, which is perfectly adequate for exploring the whole of the island. The spelling of place names on OS maps occasionally differs from local spellings.
The Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet 361 also covers the Isle of Arran, offering more detail, especially in complex areas such as forests and farmland, or on rocky ridges in the high mountains. The map is printed on both sides of the sheet, with a generous overlap between the northern and southern halves of the island.
Ordnance Survey maps can be obtained widely from bookshops or ordered through the website www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Digital versions of OS maps are also available for use with GPS-enabled devices.
Harvey Maps produce the 1:25,000 Superwalker XT25 and 1:40,000 Ultramap XT40 maps of Arran. These are tough, light, waterproof and double-sided, with a generous overlap between the eastern and western halves of the island. Fine attention to detail on these maps extends to showing the full extent of boggy ground around the island. (Harvey Maps first surveyed the Isle of Arran in 1980 for the former Karrimor Mountain Marathon. Digital versions are available.) See www.harveymaps.co.uk.