Glenbrittle Beach

Glenbrittle (Gaelic: Gleann Breadail) is a remote area of Skye. It is most useful as a base for walking and climbing the Black Cuillin, including the famous "Inaccessible Pinnacle".

Get in

The Inaccessible Pinnacle

See Skye for long distance transport options.

You need your own wheels to get here, follow A87 to Sligachan (15 miles away) then take the road west towards Carbost, eventually turning onto the little lane south to Glenbrittle. The nearest regular bus route is through Sligachan; an occasional school bus reaches Carbost.

Get around

Walking often degenerates into a mad hip-hop dance as you flail away at the midges.

See

• 1 Fairy Pools are a series of pools carved out by the flow of the River Brittle - swim in them if you can stand the cold. They're reached by an easy 2 mile return hike from the car park, £5 / vehicle.
• 2 Glenbrittle Falls are the less touristy version, reached by a short walk from the Hostel.
• 3 Eas Mor waterfall (500 yards east of Glen Brittle House). The third falls, to complete your set, a little way along the route up Sgùrr Dearg. (updated May 2019)

Do

• Go walking and climbing in the Black Cuillin. Sgùrr Dearg is a 5 mile, 7 hour hike; no difficult climbing involved but the way is sometimes unclear. This brings you to 978 m, but it's topped by the In Pinn - the well-named "inaccessible pinnacle" reaching 986 m. This requires rock climbing skills & gear to scale, the only "Munro" to do so. Not until 1880 was it climbed, being described as "a knife-edged ridge, with an overhanging and infinite drop on one side, and a drop on the other side even steeper and longer".

• Relax on the shingle beach.

Buy

There's a small shop at the campsite.

Eat & Drink

There's a cafe at the campsite.

Sleep

• 1 Glenbrittle Youth Hostel, Glenbrittle IV47 8TA, ☏ +44 1478 640278. Check-in: 17:00, check-out: 10:00. Open April-Sept, this is a basic hostel, but friendly & clean with good cooking facilities. Adult £22 ppn. (updated May 2019)
• 2 Glenbrittle Campsite, ☏ +44 1478 640404. Open April-Sept, basic camping & caravan site at the end of the road. Reception, shop & cafe open daily 08:00-20:00. Adult £10 ppn, hook-up £6. (updated May 2019)

Go next

The lane loops back to Carbost. From there you either head northwest for Dunvegan, or east to Sligachan for the rest of Skye.