In brief 1 = Other Walking & Cycle Routes 7 7 The Butt The Category: Easy 8 of Lewis Map Reference: OS Landranger 1 2 Map 8 ( and North Lewis); OS Explorer Map 460 (North Lewis) 9

Start and End Grid Reference: 10

NB 518 648 3 Walking Distance: 5.5 km / 3.5 miles 4 11

Time: 2 hours 5

12 Route Route Walking 13

Our walking and cycling

14 routes are part of a series of self-guided trails through the Outer . 6 For more information scan here. 15 16

www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk

www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/apps

Take all your litter home. litter your all Take •

Leave gates as you found them. found you as gates Leave •

lambing time. lambing

at especially control, under dogs Keep • www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk

Do not disturb livestock or wildlife. or livestock disturb not Do •

other walking routes, visit: routes, walking other

download to and information more For go far wrong: wrong: far go

If you keep to the following guidelines you won’t won’t you guidelines following the to keep you If

www.outdooraccess-.com

rights and responsibilities can be found at at found be can responsibilities and rights

the rights of others. Full information on access access on information Full others. of rights the

land provided we behave responsibly and respect respect and responsibly behave we provided land

with the outdoors and keep fit at the same time. same the at fit keep and outdoors the with

in the world – we have the right to walk on most most on walk to right the have we – world the in

our islands gives you a chance to really connect connect really to chance a you gives islands our

In Scotland we have some of the best access laws laws access best the of some have we Scotland In

through rugged mountain terrain, walking on on walking terrain, mountain rugged through

Scottish Outdoor Access Code Access Outdoor Scottish along island beaches, or challenging hikes hikes challenging or beaches, island along

Whether you are looking for leisurely strolls strolls leisurely for looking are you Whether

Always bring a compass and map with you. with map and compass a bring Always •

Butt of Lewis of Butt ample points of interest. of points ample

and when you expect to be back. be to expect you when and take in historic sites and monuments providing providing monuments and sites historic in take

going are you where someone tell Always • trail in Uist, while a selection of hiking trails trails hiking of selection a while Uist, in trail

for example – to walk the Bonnie Prince Charlie Charlie Prince Bonnie the walk to – example for Carry water and a bite to eat. to bite a and water Carry •

wildlife walks. History lovers can choose – – choose can lovers History walks. wildlife

basking sharks on calm days.” calm on sharks basking windy days! windy

choose from including coastal walks and and walks coastal including from choose

to spot whales, dolphins and and dolphins whales, spot to for not is walk This cliffs. steep along are

There are lots of different types of walks to to walks of types different of lots are There

walks these of some as care extra Take • also provides a good chance chance good a provides also

boots. A jacket is always advisable. always is jacket A boots. short route combines both and and both combines route short

cover some rough, wet ground, so wear your your wear so ground, wet rough, some cover of impressive sea cliffs. This This cliffs. sea impressive of

just to get out and enjoy the fresh air. fresh the enjoy and out get to just

Take appropriate clothing – these walks may may walks these – clothing appropriate Take •

beaches and mile after mile mile after mile and beaches

history and heritage of our islands or or islands our of heritage and history

Check the weather forecast before you set out. set you before forecast weather the Check •

Britain, with countless sandy sandy countless with Britain, chance to get close to the nature, nature, the to close get to chance

the finest coastal walking in in walking coastal finest the

and walking provides you with the the with you provides walking and of common sense: common of

Lewis is blessed with some of of some with blessed is  Lewis “ Staying safe whilst walking is mostly a matter matter a mostly is walking whilst safe Staying opportunities to explore the outdoors outdoors the explore to opportunities

Outdoor Safety Outdoor great offer Hebrides Outer The The Route Gannets

These beautiful and startlingly Plasticene Rocks white sea birds glide 4 Near the Butt of Lewis effortlessly over the waves, Lewis is blessed with some of the , the cliffs grow diving into the sea like more and more spectacular. streamlined darts after passing finest coastal walking in Britain, with The Lewisian gneiss found fish. Tens of thousands breed countless sandy beaches and mile throughout the on the deserted islands of is incredibly ancient – some and , after mile of impressive sea cliffs. outcrops are over 3 billion some forty miles north of here. years old. Over huge spans of geological time the rocks at the From mid-summer onwards This short route combines both and also provides a good Butt of Lewis have been dolphins and minke whales are chance to spot whales, dolphins and basking sharks on This is Luchruban - for crushed, twisted and contorted regularly sighted along this calm days. The Pygmy Isle hundreds of years thought to be until today they appear like coastline. Look out, too, for the 3 As you walk along the inhabited by pygmies. Regular layers of squashed plasticene. astonishingly bold rabbits that Much of the walking is on short cropped turf above the cliff clifftops take care not to get too finds of peculiar small bones by live here who think nothing of tops. Although relatively dry by island standards, there is close to the edge – some intrepid visitors to the island As you make your way along running at full speed down usually the odd muddy section along the way, so boots are sections are unstable and seemed to support this peculiar the clifftops, gannets can be terrifyingly steep rock slabs advisable. There is not much of a path but occasional prone to collapse. After a while legend – until eminent natural seen offshore. amongst the sea cliffs. wooden marker posts show the route. you will notice an area of lush, historians identified the remains tussocky vegetation that stands as those of seabirds and small Note: this walk follows the edge of high sea cliffs – Please in sharp contrast to the close mammals. lazybeds – old cultivation take care at all times! It is not suitable on windy days and it cropped grass you are walking Tradition has it that the island ridges where crofters grew is not suitable for vertigo sufferers! on. Approach this, and the was the site of an ancient reason for the lack of grazing chapel and the remains of a and Lazybeds their oats, barley and becomes obvious – what building still exist close to its potatoes. Listen out for 5 Pause a while at the corncrakes as you continue once widespread throughout appears at first sight to be part highest point. Luchruban may famous red brick lighthouse – along the road. Their The Cunndal Britain but nowadays of the headland is actually a well have been an early built by the prolific Stevenson distinctive rasping call is easy restricted almost entirely to the sea stack that has become Christian hermitage. Memorial family in 1862 – and on a to hear, but these plump flower rich meadows separated from the main cliff. breezy day admire the views 1 Park at Play Park, summer visitors skulk in long of the Hebrides. out to sea. The waves here at then go through a small gate grass and are almost the northern tip of Lewis are and take the grassy path Corncrake impossible to spot. Instead of dropping down to the often random and towards the beach (Tràigh attractive sandy beach, go treacherous, tides and Take a few minutes to walk to Shanddaigh). Surfers can through another gate on your currents intermingling after St. Moluag’s chapel before often be seen riding the right and head up towards an travelling up each side of the heading back to your car. One waves here; the Atlantic obvious cairn. This is a island. of the earliest Christian sites coast of Lewis is now memorial to the men lost here on the island, this lovingly recognised as one of Britain’s on 5th March 1885, when the Heading back along the road restored stone building was a best (if coldest!) surfing local fishing fleet was caught in notice the long, parallel ridges famous pilgrimage site in the destinations. a terrible gale. Two boats in the grassy fields on your 16th Century for the sick and attempted to seek shelter at right. These are feannagan or insane. If you are here in summer, Cunndal, just north of this point. look out for bumblebees. Both boats and twelve men – This is a hotspot for the all from Eoropie - were lost. Great Yellow Bumblebee,

Eoropie Beach

N

Cross the machair until you Machair reach a small slipway. This 2 Continue northwards, is Cunndal itself, the slipway following wooden marker tucked in behind a small posts through the machair. projecting reef, offering a rare This exceptionally rare spot of shelter on an otherwise habitat is almost entirely wild and exposed coastline. confined to the Hebrides and Head right for a short north west Scotland. It is distance, cross a small burn, formed when sand from then pass through a gate onto nearby beaches blows onto the hillside beyond. Now it is peat soils. Tiny fragments of a case of simply following the seashells in the sand add coastline as you make your calcium to the barren, acidic way around the headland. peat soils, resulting in lush There are numerous small fertile strips around our promontories here that can coastlines which have long be explored if you have the been used for growing crops time, or you can take the more and grazing livestock. direct route waymarked by the wooden posts.

Plasticene Rocks “The Machair is an exceptionally rare habitat that is almost entirely Leaflet produced by confined to the Hebrides and north west Scotland.”

Supported by

FOR A HAPPIER, HEALTHIER SCOTLAND Design: we-are-bright.com