Shiel Bridge

Why base here

Shiel Bridge is a hamlet on the south-east shore of Loch Duich at the foot of Glen Shiel, Wikipedia says, with a campsite, a shop and few other amenities; most of the stays round the head of the loch are at Ratagan, Inverinate and Letterfearn. Kintail, whose Gaelic name means the head of the salt water, is largely National Trust for Scotland ground. The Five Sisters have been in its care since 1944, and its property manager counts 30,000 acres across Kintail, West Affric and Glomach, looked after by a team of three. NatureScot, whose Kintail National Scenic Area takes in the loch, describes hills that appear to rise almost directly from the water.

Up the glen is the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel, fought on 10 June 1719 and, in Historic Environment Scotland’s words, the sole battle of that year’s Jacobite rising: about 1,200 Highlanders and between 240 and 300 Spanish regulars, by its count, against a government force that lost 21 killed and 121 wounded. The Trust owns Spanish Hill, where the stone breastworks survive. The case for sleeping here is that Shiel Bridge is where Glen Shiel meets the loch, so the Glen Shiel hills, Morvich and the Ratagan road all start a short drive away.

On foot versus by car

One hill starts in the hamlet. Walkhighlands takes Sgùrr Mhic Bharraich, a Corbett, from the car park beside the shop: 9.5km and 787m of ascent in four and a half to six and a half hours, on an old hill path to the bealach and pathless after it, a little boggy and rough, with the Saddle and the Forcan Ridge in profile ahead. Everything else is up the A87. The Five Sisters of Kintail start at the Glen Shiel car park and come down at Allt a’ Chruinn on the far side of the loch, 12.4km and 1,400m of very steep ground with a little scrambling. The Saddle, from a layby further down the glen, is 14km and 1,440m, and Walkhighlands calls the Forcan Ridge a hard and exposed scramble, though the route can avoid it. From the Trust’s ranger office at Morvich, Walkhighlands gives the Falls of Glomach as 17.5km and 790m over a pass to a single leap of 113m, and Gleann Lichd as a simple track up the glen that can be made as short as you like.

Heading for the Scottish Hills lists the Five Sisters and Beinn Fhada as Trust land with no stalking issues, and Sgùrr an Airgid as Inverinate Estate ground with stalking from late August to 20 October. For the Saddle and the South Glen Shiel Ridge it has no information, and asks walkers to follow reasonable local guidance.

Practicalities

There is no station in Kintail. Kyle of Lochalsh, at the end of the line from Dingwall, is the nearest, and ScotRail runs its trains. Scottish Citylink’s routes 915 from Glasgow and 917 from Inverness stop at Shiel Bridge on the way to Skye, and Walkhighlands says drivers will stop at the Glen Shiel walk starts on request, at their discretion. The Trust says parking at Morvich is free for its members. The single-track road to Glenelg climbs out of Shiel Bridge over Mam Ratagan, and the Forestry and Land Scotland car park near the top looks back at the Five Sisters, the view NatureScot singles out for them.

With children

Gleann Lichd is the walk. Walkhighlands calls it one of the few easy walks in Kintail, a simple track, and the Trust asks that dogs be kept under close control there, because cattle and sheep roam freely; it also says its Kintail and Morvich trails are not suitable for wheelchairs. Its rangers run sea kayaking taster days for first-time paddlers from Plockton, Dornie, Kyle and Skye. Dùn Totaig, a one-boot walk from Letterfearn to an unrestored broch, lost its path to a landslide in August 2024, the Northern Times reported, and Walkhighlands still showed the closure notice in October 2026.