Start/Finish: Sligachan Hotel Total distance: 26km (16.2 miles) Total Time: 4-6 hours Maps: OS Landranger sheet 33, South Skye and Cuillin Hills. Or Garmin National Parks 1:25K Isle of Skye (GPS). Summary: Short on paper, this ride is still a strenuous challenge in the best of weather. If you enjoy technical riding, you will love it. Starting at the Sligachan Hotel – don’t park in its car park – cross over the arched bridge and turn immediately right through the gate and onto the well signposted trail. Climb up the initial stone pitched rise and take in the views before setting off in earnest. Approximately 8km along the trail there is a small cairn to mark a junction in the trail. Right turn to Loch Curuisk if you are on foot, but our route stays left/straight on for Camasunary. On the shores of Loch na Creitheach you will see another trail junction, with the left turn climbing steeply over a hill. Ignore this, staying right along the lochside. At the end of Loch na Creitheach the path splits (not on the map) with one going right round the beach at the loch head and up the hill. Take either here – or vary them on the way out and back – as they both end up in the same place. Drop down the gradual slope to the sea and turn right after the occupied, but isolated, farmhouse. Scoot along the beach to the bothy – a great place to sit and have lunch – before deciding whether to tackle the whole circuit or just return the way you came. We recommend the straight return as the circuit turns into a bit of a slog with little in the way of good riding once you hit the road at Kilmarie. by Matt_Skinner
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