Summer 2022: Ullapool
See below for two very happy faces on the first night of our 2022 summer vacation! We weren’t staying at the Ceilidh Place, where we can be seen drinking welcome beers, but we used its bar and restaurant several times. Our own accommodation was the excellent Bungalow 500, shown in the post header, which we thoroughly recommend. We arrived on Monday, 11th July and left on Saturday 16th which gave us four days of walking.
Day 1 Ullapool Hill Path and Glen Achall
We climbed above the town to the rocky outcrop of Meall Mor, at 270m the highest point on the walk. It was a tad blowy up there – I’m standing like that to keep my balance! We carried on to Loch Achall, passing some friendly locals on the way, before retracing our steps back to town.
Day 2 Corrieshalloch, Lael, and Knockan Crag
The Corrieshalloch Gorge walk is a circular trail above a 61m deep box canyon with a suspension bridge and a viewing platform from which the Falls of Measach can be seen. The whole circuit takes about an hour.
Our next stop was another short walk in Lael Forest.
We popped back into Ullapool for lunch in the Ferry Boat Inn before heading for Knockan Crag. This is a National Nature Reserve Trail taking you back in geological time as you climb past different layers of exposed rock with sculpture and poetry along the way. The Moine Thrust is a place where 500 million year old rock has been pushed upwards by two of the earth’s plates crashing into each other forcing older rocks above bands of younger rocks. At Knockan Crag the Thrust is exposed which was crucial to geologists in understanding how the earth’s continents were formed.
The weather was becoming very cold and wet by this time so, although the walk was very interesting, we were glad to get back to the car.
Day 3 Rhue Lighthouse
Rhue Lighthouse guards the entrance to Loch Broom for ships bound for Ullapool. From the north end of town we walked out along the shoreline and returned by taking the single-track road from Rhue back to the main road and up over the hill to Ullapool. It was about six miles in total, including a bit of scrambling up and down off the beach when the tide was too high to pass round rocky outcrops.
We started by admiring this bench on the way out of Ullapool. I’m guessing Sandy likes cats and fiddles. As we made our way over the grass to the shore we found it littered with jellyfish – clearly there had been a big tide earlier.
Continuing along the shore we came to an old boat wreck suggesting we should repent.
The lighthouse came into sight.
Before we got there, we found another interesting memorial bench.
We visited the small white lighthouse and admired a passing sailing ship.
The climb up to the main road was picturesque, but the walk back was a bit of a slog. We liked this funny old garage though!
Day 4 Badenscallie Circular and Achnahaird Beach
The Badenscallie Circular (7.75km) went along the coast from the small township of that name to Culnacraig, and back inland along a small road. The outward route was originally part of the ‘Postie’s Path’, trekked twice a week to bring mail from Ullapool to this remote area.
The postie’s path was also used during the Highland Clearances when a young boy ran along it from Ullapool in the 1850s to warn crofters that the sheriff’s men were coming to serve eviction orders. Katy Campbell was singled out as a ring-leader of the resulting confrontation and forced off the estate. The ruined cottage which can just be seen in the first image below below is hers – expand the information board above for the full story.
From Badenscallie we drove to Achnahaird for a lovely beach walk, with stops at Badentarbet Bay and Altandhu where we had great views over the Summer Isles.
Badentarbet Bay:
Altandhu:
Achnahaird Beach:
Heading onwards
We’d had a fabulous few days in Ullapool, but it was time to move on. The walking had been great, but we’d also had our fill of good food – probably too much for the walking to cancel out! Nothing sinister about the initials on the cup below – this was one of the two delicious meals we had at the Ferry Boat Inn.
On Saturday it was time to do something I always find exciting – take the ferry.
Next stop Stornoway!
(Very belatedly linking to Jo’s Monday Walk.)
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
Knockan Crag. I’d love to explore that.
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It was fascinating.
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Those falls were impressive! You go on such lovely walks….I try hard not to be jealous. But I tell myself that someday, I will make it to Scotland, and that makes me feel much better.
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Someday! And it will feel like a second home, hopefully, because you’ve read so much about it already.
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Fantastic scenes, Anabel. Love the blue hair to match your fleece. The gorge pictures are gorgeous (is that where that word came from?). One little plaque for Mr. Clark was apparently not sufficient.
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Yes, I can imagine the family saying “I’ll write the plaque”. “No, I’ll write the plaque!” until they all decided to have a go. Yes, the hair went well with that fleece, not so well with the red one unfortunately (I do like to match).
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Always liked Ullapool. Unlike some Highland villages the same size plenty to do there. Good memories of the campsite, the various pubs, the local waterfront and the mobile chippie which was excellent.
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I’ve always liked it too. We always enjoy our visits.
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A beautiful corner of Scotland. It is a long time since I was there which is a great pity. Thank you for the tour.
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Sure is – one of my favourite places.
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Wow! So much to love here (except, maybe, the weather). I love the decaying boats!
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Even the weather was tolerable – you get used to Scottish summers!
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Wow, this is our kind of holiday. Lots of walking and scenery and nice food.
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Exactly – a great balance!
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Yes, we are always hopeful that all the walking evens out all the eating. 😁🤞🏼
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Wonderful walks and photos. You are adding to what is becoming a very long list of “places I must visit” on my coastal walk. 🙂
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Well, it would be hard to miss Ullapool! You will love it, I’m sure.
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Splendid days out walking, Anabel. I enjoyed the photography and the positive smiles. We enjoyed our short stay in Ullapool. Not sure about the coloured hair.
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Thanks Suzanne – Ullapool is a favourite place. I get spontaneous compliments from strangers about the hair, but i know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
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Good to be out there and being yourself with blue hair. I will continue to be staid and boring with my grey strands of hair, though if I get to 90 a few tuffs I may perm and colour them purple 😉
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I am currently purple!
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Whoops, my mistake as I knew that.
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What great walks full of wonderful views and interesting history. Ullapool is one of my Dad’s favourite places in all of Scotland – maybe even his favourite- so I’ll need to ask him if he’s done these walks. I look forward to seeing your posts about Stornoway, a place I’ve unfortunately never been.
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It’s probably one of mine too – such a lovely little town, and the views over the loch are stunning.
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