The Storr and the Old Man of Storr seen from the road approaching the start of our walk
The Storr and the Old Man of Storr seen from the road approaching the start of our walk

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Route No. 269 - Tuesday 14 October 2008
Tourist path up to the Old Man of Storr
and back - 3km
Isle of Skye, Scotland . . .

Ordnance Survey route map on the Landranger series map base

Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 408 Skye - Trotternish & The Storr

My wife and I are having a week in a holiday cottage in Portree on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The big Skye mountains are way beyond my abilities now, but we are finding some short walks with magnificent scenery for very little effort, so I'm adding some notes of our little strolls to my walking diary. The weather for the whole week was very mixed with intense dark squally showers and periods of sunshine and bright blue sky. This mix gave us some wonderful lighting effects with rainbows, bright sunshine on the autumn vegetation with a black cloud backdrop and sunlight streaming through the clouds to light up patches of the sea. It was a very enjoyable week.

The Storr seen from the road approaching the car park
The Storr seen from the road approaching the car park

The car park is at the foot of a very craggy mountain called The Storr.

This morning we drove to a car park at map ref. NG508528 about 11 km north of Portree

Leaving the car park at the start of the climb
Leaving the car park at the start of the climb

Climbing up through the woods
Climbing up through the woods

The whole route there and back is no more than 3 km with a climb from the car park of around 350m.

There is a tourist footpath to a huge rock pinnacle called "The Old Man of Storr" just over half way up the mountain.

Climbing up through the woods
Climbing up through the woods

Still climbing up through the woods
Still climbing up through the woods

Southwards we were looking towards the Cuillin Range and eastwards over the islands of Rona and Raasay.

The walk took us over 2 hours. The views became better and better as we gained more height.

Still climbing up through the woods
Still climbing up through the woods

The mountains of the mainland seen over the Island of Rona
The mountains of the mainland seen over the Island of Rona

A final breather as we approached The Old Man of Storr
A final breather approaching The Old Man of Storr

But there is a sign warning walkers not to go between the pinnacle and the main mountain rock face because of the risks from frequent rockfalls.

At the top there is a loop in the path around the rock pinnacle.

The Old Man of Storr at close quarters
The Old Man of Storr at close quarters

The grey silluette of the Cuillin Range looking south from the path
The grey silhouette of the Cuillin Range looking south from the path

Looking up at The Old Man of Storr
Looking up at The Old Man of Storr

On the way down we passed many other people climbing up including some ladies in very light shoes and two boys in their early teens pushing their mountain bikes up the path.

We sat and admired this amazing place for quite some time. Then we made our way back down the slope and through the woods to the car park.

Returning down the tourist path
Returning down the tourist path

Returning down the tourist path through the woods
Returning down the tourist path through the woods

Near the car park was a little picnic site by a waterfall where we stopped for some lunch.

It turned out that they lived in Portree and came up often for the thrill of riding down this terrifying slope!

Lunch break by a waterfall
Lunch break by a waterfall