Walk: Berneray - Borve, beach & beinn

Berneray | Harbour | Half day walk | ★★★

[View north to Harris from the summit of Beinn a' Schèibhe]

Berneray is one of several islands scattered across the Sound of Harris; a causeway to North Uist and a car ferry to Leverburgh on Harris provide vital transport links. The famously tall Angus MacAskill was born here in 1825 and must have felt like a big fish in a small pond: most of the island can be explored in a single day on an scenic, varied circuit waymarked erratically by wooden posts. Expansive beaches, windswept summit vistas, seals and a colossal standing stone are among the highlights.

[Berneray West Beach]

📌 Walk: Berneray - Borve, beach & beinn ★★★
Start / finish at car park at Berneray harbour, G.R.: NF 923811 ///hindering.piano.expert

▶ 12 km / 7 mi | ▲ 160 m | ⌚ Half a day | ⬤ Moderate
Features: Cladh Maolrithe; Berneray West Beach; △ Beinn Schlèibhe (93 m); Loch a' Bhàigh; Sheila's Cottage
Terrain: Often quiet roads or sandy beaches; hill sections on faint paths or pathless grass with occasional waymarkers.

Route & map

Car park - leave road at G.R.: NF 917806 ///doctors.paradise.mistaking - Cladh Maolrithe - Borve village hall - northwest to Berneray West Beach ★★★★ - follow beach north then east to end - Beinn Schlèibhe by northwest ridge - Taraloch - Berneray hostel via beach - Loch a' Bhàigh & Sheila's Cottage (heritage centre) - start


Route credit: Scotland Off the Beaten Track / locally waymarked

On our visit

Wildlife: Seals on the rocks in Loch a' Bhàigh. Noisy oystercatches, gulls, sheep.
Weather: Mostly cloudy at start with increasing amounts of sunshine. Brief rain shower on Berneray West Beach, light winds.

Chronological photo guide

[Berneray harbour]

[Berneray harbour]

[Berneray harbour]

[Road south of the harbour]

[Climbing the hill to Cladh Maolrithe]

[Cladh Maolrithe - 8 feet above ground, 8 feet below!]

[Descent from Cladh Maolrithe]

[Moth on the walk to Berneray West Beach]

[Berneray West Beach]

[Northeast end of Berneray West Beach]

[Beinn Schleibhe]

[Possible chambered cairn on Beinn Schleibhe]

[View south from Beinn Schleibhe]

[View north from Beinn Schleibhe towards Harris]

[Following the marker posts away from the summit]

[Berneray east coast below]

[Berneray East Beach]

[Berneray East Beach]

[Berneray hostel]

[East coast of Berneray]

[Seals in Loch a' Bhàigh]

[Seals]

[Seals]

[Loch a' Bhàigh]

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