Coronavirus status – you can still buy books and ebooks to plan, enjoy and dream, but any essential messages should be to info@cicerone.co.uk. Please do not phone, as our offices are closed. Thank you!
Walking on Uist and Barra
40 coast, moorland and mountain walks on all the isles of Uist and Barra
Free 1st Class postage on UK orders. European postage from £2 per item. Worldwide postage from £3 per item. If you're not happy with your purchase for any reason, we'll give you a full refund.
More information...
A guidebook to walking on the Uists and Barra, in the Outer Hebrides - with 40 graded day walks on Berneray, North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra, Vatersay and Mingulay. Routes range from easy beach walks to mountainous excursions and explore rugged hills, awesome sea cliffs, moorland and lochs.
Seasons
best visited in the spring and summer, when the daylight seems endless and the coastal machair is ablaze with the blooms of wildflowers
Centres
Balivanich on Benbecula, the location of the main airport, and also the ferry terminals at Castlebay, Lochboisdale and Lochmaddy
Difficulty
varying distance and severity, from short, low-level beach walks to serious excursions across wild, mountainous terrain requiring sound navigational skills; all routes graded to aid selection
Must See
the white sands of Berneray, the lochs of North Uist, the hills and machair of South Uist, the romance of Eriskay, the fearsome cliffs of Mingulay and the iconic Kisimul Castle in Castlebay on the Isle of Barra
This guide offers 40 walking routes on the Uists and Barra - a unique 100km cluster of islands in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The walks are varied and graded, from short, flat beach walks beside crystal clear waters to long excursions across wild mountainous terrain, the routes visit all the major islands from Berneray to Vatersay but also those smaller and offshore such as Eriskay and Mingulay. Routes are described in four sections, by area, and illustrated with vivid colour photographs and OS mapping. Walking across these landscapes, especially the hill country, gives a sense of remoteness and peaceful solitude that cannot be found in the mainland's National Parks or on the Munros busy with peak baggers. Despite a relatively narrow area, Uist and Barra's diverse islands offer a contrasting walking terrain and many ancient historic sites such as chambered cairns and standing stones as well as lots of local wildlife. Upland areas are home to red deer and golden and white-tailed eagles, while along the coast grey seals are common and thousands of birds set up their breeding grounds in the machair. Daily flights between Glasgow and Benbecula as well as the ferry network mean that all of the islands are readily accessible.
Table of Contents
Contents Introduction Geology and geomorphology History Plants and wildlife Transport Accommodation and facilities Safety Access Using the guide 1 North Uist Walk 1.1 Berneray (Beàrnaraigh) Walk 1.2 Udal Walk 1.3 Crògearraidh Mòr Walk 1.4 Lochportain Walk 1.5 Lì a Tuath and Lì a Deas Walk 1.6 Langais Walk 1.7 Burabhal Eabhal Walk 1.8 Eabhal from Loch Euphort Walk 1.9 Eabhal from Cladach Chairinis Walk 1.10 Grimsay (Griomasaigh) Walk 1.11 Scolpaig Walk 1.12 Hogha Gearraidh and Hosta Walk 1.13 Balranald Nature Reserve Walk 1.14 Baleshare (Baile Sear) 2 Benbecula Walk 2.1 Borgh Walk 2.2 Culla Bay Walk 2.3 Ròisinis Walk 2.4 Ruabhal 3 South Uist Walk 3.1 Loch Sgioport Walk 3.2 Uisinis lighthouse and Nicolson’s Leap Walk 3.3 The Northern Corries of Thacla Walk 3.4 The Three Peaks Beinn Mhòr Walk 3.5 Beinn Mhòr from Sniseabhal Walk 3.6 Beinn Mhòr from Taobh a Tuath Loch Aineort Walk 3.7 Taobh a Tuath Loch Aineort Walk 3.8 Stulaigh Walk 3.9 Gleann Dail bho Dheas Walk 3.10 Eriskay (Eirisgeigh) Machair Way Walk 3.11 Tobha Mòr Walk 3.12 Aisgernis/Cladh Hàlainn 4 Barra Walk 4.1 Barra’s northern peninsula Walk 4.2 Cliaid Walk 4.3 Allathasdal Barra’s central hills Walk 4.4 The Barra Watershed Walk 4.5 Barra’s highest hills Walk 4.6 Central Barra Walk 4.7 Dùn Bàn Walk 4.8 Dùn Bàn and Beinn Tangabhal Walk 4.9 Vatersay (Bhatarsaigh) Walk 4.10 Mingulay (Miùghlaigh)
Appendix A Glossary of Gaelic and Norse terms Appendix B Route summary table Appendix C Further reading Appendix D Useful information
We do not yet have any updates available for this book
We are always grateful to readers for information about any discrepancies between a
guidebook and the facts on the ground. If you would like to send some information
to us then please use our contact form. They
will be published here following review by the author(s).
Reviews
'...the author includes snippets of history and folklore. Being a geologist, he also does not overlook the rocks which form this landscape at the edge of Europe.'
Canoeist Magazine, November 2012
Where to Buy
Google Play
Google Play Books available for Windows, Android, Mac and iOS
Kobo
Kobo eReader devices plus Kobo App available for Windows, Android, Mac and iOS
Kindle
Kindle Reader devices plus Kindle App available for Windows, Android, Mac and iOS
Mike Townsend's love of the outdoors began with teenage walking holidays in the Lake District and Snowdonia. Later, at Edinburgh University, he began exploring the Highlands, and in 1969 first glimpsed the Uists and Barra from Skye. After graduating in Geology, he was a freelance mineralogist during the 70s, which involved extensive travel and occasional mountaineering in South America and Australasia.
Mike moved to Barra in 1980 to become a Geography teacher, relocating to Benbecula in 1988. He has spent many periods since then, even more since retiring in 2010, exploring the islands, particularly their more remote, unfrequented areas.
