Gairloch to Ullapool – Coastal Road Trip

Day 21 – Gairloch to Ullapool

Day twenty-one will be full of lochs as we meander around Loch Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Gruinard Bay (not technically a loch, but almost), Little Loch Broom and finally Loch Broom.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Ullapool, Loch Broom, Blue sky, Reflection — Loch Broom.

Loch Gairloch

Coastal Road Trip, Gairloch, Loch Gairloch, Longa Island, Sunrise — We ended yesterday with a sunset view from our room. Then this morning we woke to this beautiful view of Longa Island in Loch Gairloch.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Gairloch, Eilean Horrisdale, Reflections — Kicking the day off with a few more reflections along the road to Redpoint, first near Eilean Horrisdale.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Gairloch, Badachro, Boats, Reflections — Then these rather tired boats at Badachro, but still so picturesque.

Loch Tollaidh

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Tollaidh, Reflections — Heading over to Poolewe passing the small Loch Tollaidh.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Tollaidh, Blue boat — And another sinking boat…

Inverewe Garden

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, House, National Trust for Scotland — Inverewe House in the Inverewe Garndens, now managed by the National Trust for Scotland (so we got our free entry). Actually this was the second house built here, the original burnt down in a fire just over 100 years ago.

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, Path, National Trust for Scotland — We arrived just as it opened, nice and quiet, great, until a coach load of tourists arrived, fortunately there were plenty of garden paths for all to get lost in.

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, Purple flower, National Trust for Scotland — Flowers! Time for some close-ups.

Loch Ewe

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Isle of Ewe, Cove, Anti-Aircraft Battery — Cove, at the the north western tip of the entrance to Loch Ewe, was littered with World War II Anti-Aircraft Battery. Although unsafe to enter, it’s amazing that the concrete of these batteries has lasted so long. Such a sharp contrast to their surroundings.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Cove, Beach — A secluded beach on a small peninsula along the road between Cove and Inverasdale.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Cove, Inverasdale, Poolewe, B8057, Road, Passing Point — Although many of the coastal roads in Scotland are single track (like the road between Poolewe and Cove), most have plenty of passing points, so we never had any problems.

Gruinard Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Gruinard Bay, Gruinard Island, Stream — A stream bubbling down to Gruinard Bay, with Gruinard Island in the background.

Coastal Road Trip, Gruinard Bay, Jarno — Views over Gruinard Bay and Jarno.

Corrieshalloch Gorge

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, View to Loch Broom — Before heading down into Corrieshalloch Gorge, we stopped to take in the very green views down the valley to Loch Broom.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Bridge — Unfortunately the bridge over Corrieshalloch Gorge had been closed a few days earlier for safety reasons, so we couldn’t get to the main lookout point.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Julian, Jarno — Trying to look down into the gorge… but we couldn’t see much.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Mushrooms, Toadstools — Along the gorge path Mushrooms or maybe Toadstools?

Loch Broom

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Ullapool, Loch Broom, Blue sky, Reflection — We started the day with a bright blue sky, and ended the day with a bright blue sky! This was our view across Loch Broom as we sat on the pebble beach at Ullapool eating our fish and chip dinner.

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