Altitude	1,286 Feet
Trail Conditions	Worn walking trail through partially boggy terrain
Difficulty	Low
Est. Time	2-3 hours
Distance	6-8 Miles
Starting Locations	Seaside road below the Cuillin Hills Hotel or via Toravaig road

History of the Local Area

Scorybreck, a small village you’ll likely pass through on the way to the Sithean Bhealaich Chumhaing Trig Point, was an established township as early as 1824 but was recorded as completely deserted by 1877. It was cleared to make way for sheep farming, along with many similar communities across Skye.

Among the fallen walls of one house stands a white tablet inscribed with, “Site of Scorybreck, Home of the Nicholson Chiefs for Eight Centuries till 1825.”

A short distance south of Scorybreck lie the ruins of the Bile Chapel, surrounded by a medieval burial ground. The area, now used as pasture, whispers of its ancient past.

Gallery

The Walk

I started the walk to the trig point from the coordinates (57.42962256112215, -6.182817124391707), which is a turn off from the main road heading to Toravaig on the A855 when leaving Portree from the North-East.

I made the somewhat poor decision to head straight up the hill from where I parked rather than following any sort of established trail, heading through various fields with cows and sheep, made more difficult by heavy mist that rolled in and reduced visibility to 10-20 metres at most. Which certainly made for an atmospheric wander through the hills alone.

I’d strongly recommend walking along the Toravaig road instead which is the route I took back from the trig point, you can follow the Toravaig road until you reach signs for a path near the end, this path will lead you via a worn trail following the ridgeline all the way to the Trig point, with some stunning views of Portree itself and the surrounding area.

Otherwise, you can park near the seaside below the Cuillin Hills Hotel and follow a trail until you reach a large grass field, which you can then walk through and directly up the hill opposite to start the trig trail.

The trail itself, once you find it, is a well trodden path created by various sheep trails and walkers heading to the Trig Point, there are various points where bogs are largely unavoidable so be sure to bring some decent, ideally waterproof, shoes with you.

If you follow the ridgeline all the way there are some stunning views of the entire Portree area and looking east across the water you can clearly see Raasay.

Relevant Resources

• Walk Highlands – Sithean Bhealaich Chumhaing
• Scorybreck township – Highland Historic Environment Record