Gairloch is a straggling community along the west coast ofRoss and Cromarty in theScottish Highlands, with a population of 620 in 2020. The land is hilly and farming isn't very productive, but shellfishing remains a traditional occupation.
From the south, travel via Inverness then north up A835 towards Ullapool, branching off at Garve for A832 past Loch Maree. This road continues north beyond Gairloch, passing Loch Ewe (with Inverewe Gardens) and Little Loch Broom to rejoin A835 at Corrieshalloch.
Westerbus 700 runs once M-Sa from Gairloch around 8AM via Achnasheen,Strathpeffer andDingwall toInverness, taking 2 hr 30 min, and returning to Gairloch around 5PM. Bus 711 sets off around 9AM and goes as far as Dingwall (which has a railway station), returning at 1PM.
You need a car. There's no local public transport except a school bus: Westerbus 705 runs once on schooldays from Torridon at 7:30AM to Gairloch and returns at 3:30PM.
(updated Aug 2024)
(updated Aug 2024)(updated Aug 2024)
Let's camp somewhere else If you take the north loop of road past Little Loch Broom, the islands twinkling in the distance areThe Summer Isles. But there's another island much closer to shore: the infamousGruinard. During the Second World War, the British military tested anthrax as a bioweapon - purely for defence of course, no intention of using it themselves. Weaponising and dispersing anthrax is straightforward, but how long would the target area remain unsafe and off-limits? A remote spot was needed, so in 1942 the government purchased Gruinard, put 80 sheep there, and let off a device. The anthrax strain was the highly virulent Vollum 14578, and the sheep soon perished. Forty years later, the island was still unsafe. Activists demanded a clean-up, and grabbed attention with "Operation Dark Harvest": contaminated soil from the island was left at Porton Down military research facility, and at the Conservative party conference in Blackpool. Decontamination was set in hand, and in 1990 Gruinard was declared safe. |
(updated Aug 2024)(updated Aug 2024)(updated Aug 2024)(updated Aug 2024)As of Aug 2024, Gairloch has 4G from EE, O2 and Vodafone, but the signal is patchy on the approach roads, and there's nothing from Three. 5G has not reached this area.
| Thiscity travel guide toGairlochis ausable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but pleasefeel free to improve itby editing the page. |
