A small island abundant in wildlife in the sea, on land and in the...
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Short strolls to long days on the trail, we’ve got something for everyone. Keep an eye out for our incredible wildlife from Sea Eagles to Whales.
A lovely half hour stroll that takes in the monument and offers fabulous views of Lismore, Appin, Mull, Oban and the sound of Kerrera. A great wee leg stretch.
Leave Kerrera Marina via the north gate (please close it behind you!) and follow the track towards the old log cabin. Go through the kissing gate (its entirely up to you if you want to follow that wee tradition!) and follow the path up to the monument. Once you have enjoyed the view you can either come back down the escarpment and turn left to follow the path to the sandy beach we call Charlottes Bay, or you can carry on along the top of the escarpment and make your way down to the sandy beach. This is a great wee swim spot!
Then continuing along the seashore, there is a rocky wee pathway that will lead you around the bottom of the cliff and up to a gate in the wall. This will then lead you through the field and back to Kerrera Marina via the southern gate.
If you fancy adding on an extra half hour then once you are through the gate in the wall, turn right and follow the path to the southern end of the field, go through the gate (another must be kept closed at all times gate!), cross the stream and pick up the track. Then turn left and follow this back to Kerrera Marina. This will lead you through Ardentrice farmyard so you can have a wee rummage in their farm shop on your way home.
Please be aware that all of Kerrera is farmed – you will meet some highland cows somewhere on this walk, they are very well behaved and will ignore you as long as you ignore them. Please keep dogs on a lead and of course use poo bags. These can be disposed of in the marina brown bins.
A great walk that can be sprinted in an hour or enjoyed at a more leisurely pace over a couple of hours.
Leave Kerrera Marina via the south gate, walk through the farmyard and when the road splits I would take the right hand track. (although its a loop so you decide!) Follow this track all the way along the west side of the island. Please leave gates as you find them, although the one by the white house must always be closed.
You will find beaches galore to explore and enjoy. At the big sandy beach of Oitir Mhor (or Shell Bay as it is known in our house!) the track heads up the hill and through some fields. It literally will be 2 ruts in the field but trust it and eventually you will pop out in the middle of the island. Head down the hill past Balliemore farm (the one with the big polytunnel) and wave at us as you go by – if we aren’t at the marina then we will be here!
You will pass our lovely wee blue farm shop – pop in for an ice cream (you will have earned it by then) and have a rummage for some sausages or something yummy for tea before then carrying on down the hill to the middle ferry slipway. Then pick up the new road which will lead you all the way back to Ardentrive and then back to Kerrera Marina.
This is a great day out and takes you all the way down to the castle and tea garden at the south of the island as well as along the west side of the island.
This has various options and I would make sure you have a map with you for this one, if for nothing other than the pure joy of learning the place names and reassuring yourself that the tea garden is going to be around one of those corners!
Leave Kerrera Marina via the southern gate and follow the track through Ardentrive farm and along the new road to the middle ferry. Follow the road until its splits. Here you need to make a decision… I would aim to get the hill over and done with first and head up towards Balliemore farm (of course stopping for an emergency ice cream or well earned cake). Balliemore farm is where you’ll find us when we’re not at the marina so give us a wave as you pass by.
Continue up the hill (not for much longer I promise!) before following the track through the gate at the top of the hill. You will then contour around the island with amazing views of the sound of Mull and eventually down towards the Garvellochs, Colonsay, Jura and Islay on a good day!
You will come to a lone white house tucked away at the bottom of a very steep hill. The path gets a bit fuzzy here, I think its best to take the one up past the house and follow it (it can get pretty muddy but bear with it!) until you pop out at the very southern tip of the island. You will get the most amazing views of Easdale, and Seil and then our very special castle.
Keep on the track and just when you start to fear never finding the tea garden, suddenly its there! Fall into the most delicious chocolate brownie ever (you’ve really earned it now!) and then once you have popped down to the castle and come back, continue along the track (yes its another hill but its a shortish one!) then just keep following it back to the middle ferry.
Then either carry on along the new road home or if you still have the legs left then turn this into the kerrera 8 by walking back up the hill, past Balliemore farm (have another ice cream!) and instead of turning left at the top of the hill turn right and pick up the track that will lead you along the west side of the island down to Oitir Mhor and back to ardentrive and back to Kerrera Marina.
The final section is a stagger (or swagger) into The Waypoint for a celebratory beer and some story swapping!
This leads you to Balliemore farm before then heading on the road up to the highest point of the island – a seriously majestic place – before then dropping down to the castle and tea garden and back along the road for tea and medals.
An ordnance survey map is definitely recommended for this one! Follow either the east or west side track from Kerrera Marina to Balliemore farm and then come down into the farmyard. Go through the gate next to the poly tunnel, give us a wave and follow the track past the next 2 wee cottages.
At the second cottage you will see a fence on your right. Keep this fence on your right and follow it until you get to a gate. Go through the gate and follow an old farm track up the hill. It will lead you diagonally up the hill all the way to the top. Cross the stream (it is usually very boggy here!) and the attack the last steep section. There are all sorts of sheep tracks here, but just keep going up until you run out of up and get to the trig point.
This is the highest point of Kerrera and is so worth the effort! Enjoy it and savour it. You will realise quite how big this wee island actually is!
When you are ready carry on southward, follow the ridge line and your nose and a vague track down towards the tea garden. You will come to a fence, please follow it until you get to the gate, it’s close to where the power lines cross the fence. Please don’t climb the fence – its very new and cost us an absolute fortune! Once through the gate you should be able to see and smell the tea garden. After a well earned cake, carry on down to the castle before coming back up to the track and either taking the short way (right) back to the middle ferry or the long way (left) around the West side of the Island to follow the tracks home back to Kerrera Marina for more staggering into the bar for emergency beers!
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