Tobermory Lighthouse Walk ( Rubha nan Gall)

26/08/09 Due to the current height of the bracken and the exceptionally muddy cliff path this walk is NOT recommended and should only be undertaken by experienced walkers

• Distance - 3 miles

• Time - 1.5 hours

• OS Map Explorer 374

• Grading - Moderate - very narrow muddy cliff path and one steep climb up gully

• Terrain - Good path but can be very muddy in parts.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
To purchase OS maps on-line please click here

Click on all images to enlarge

Park in Tobermory at the Ledaig Carpark as the main street is very busy in the holiday season. This is the first turning on the right as you come down the hill into Tobermory. Time permitting a visit can be made to the Tobermory Distillery which is in the car park. This famous, very small old distillery, is the only one on the island of Mull. It was reopened in 1990 after a decade's 'silence' and has continued to market two products, Tobermory and Ledaig. Tours in season are on the hour every hour, they start at 11.00 am and the last tour is at 4.00 pm, Monday to Friday only.

Turn right out of the car park and walk along the main street perhaps taking in the Mull Museum which is well worth a visit. The Mull Museum is situated on the centre of the main street of Tobermory, close to the bank.  It is run by volunteers, all of whom have extensive local knowledge.  Although the museum is only small, it is packed with artefacts of Mull's history. Here you can learn about the famous Tobermory Clock erected in 1905 on the instruction of Isabella Bird, famed traveller and writer.  Isabella left £200 in her will for a clock to be erected in memory of her sister Henrietta, who died of typhoid in Tobermory in 1880.

Continue walking along Tobermory main street until the Caledonian MacBrayne pier and Tobermory Lifeboat Station are reached. The Tourist Information Centre is situated on the Calmac pier and sells a wide range of walking books and maps. The Lifeboat Station was originally opened in 1938 with the Watson class "Sir Arthur Rose", a gift from Miss Margaret Lithgow of Glengorm. From the Lifeboat Shop behind the Calmac Pier take the path that goes diagonally upwards into the woods and note the Gun Carriage on the left-hand side. It is presumed that the cannon went for scrap metal for the war effort.

The path commences through woodland with glimpses of the sea and shore. After a few minutes a steep path goes down to the right. Take this short detour to see what was once the Bathing Boxes Beach, the outline can still be seen of the old bathing pool. Return to the main path which opens up with stunning vistas over to Kilchoan and Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point of mainland Great Britain. Just before the lighthouse there is a memorial on the right to Robert John Brown with a seat where the spectacular panorama can be enjoyed. The memorial identifies all the landmarks from Bloody Bay to Calve Island.

Take a short detour onto the causeway to see the lighthouse and keepers' cottages watching out for otters playing on the rocks. The lighthouse, Rubha nan Gall (the gaelic for Stranger's Point), was built in 1857 by the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson and became automated in 1960. It flashes every three seconds, can be seen for 15 miles and marks the end of the Sound of Mull. Retrace your steps from the lighthouse until just before the Brown Memorial a path goes up to the right. The first few minutes are quite a scramble but the view is worth the effort. Continue heading uphill on the path until the golf course is reached.

Cross the stile and turn left onto the golf course, skirting the edge of the course marked by the green topped marker posts. Take in the spectacular views of the conical shaped Ben Talaidh down the Sound of Mull and see if you can spot any seals on the skerries in front of Calve Island. Don't be tempted to cross any other stile encountered, these I presume are there for golfers who have lost their balls! Follow close to the perimeter fence until it reaches the gate, turn left and follow the road down past the War Memorial and the Western Isles Hotel back into the town.