There are few roads in the area and the
few pockets of habitation are mostly found along the coast, excepting
only Kinlochewe and the railway halts along Glen Carron. There are no
towns - the largest settlements are Gairloch and Shieldaig and these
are but villages. Two of the roads are recent - the Lochcarron to
Shieldaig road is still known as the "new" road, having been blazed
only a century ago, while the Applecross coast road is post-war, having
been constructed by the army. Between the two, the Bealach na Ba - pass
of the cattle - climbs crazily up to the high ridge of the Applecross
peninsula just south of Beinn Bhan and in doing so reaches an elevation
of over 2000 feet, the highest public road in Britain.
It's the mountains, though, that are the
true stars of Torridon. Pride of place goes to the three magnificent
hills standing north of Upper Loch Torridon - Liathach, Beinn Eighe and
Beinn Alligin. These three together are the most strikingly beautiful
hills in Britain. They are formed of ancient sandstone, three hundred
million years old, laid down in characteristic rough bedding planes
that gives these hills and their satellites such an awesome appearance.
Beinn Eighe and Liathach are in turn capped with a layer of quartzite
that serves to give them an other-worldly appearance, strikingly jagged
and multicoloured hills that, in certain lights, actually appear to
glow. Liathach and Beinn Eighe are unusually steep and rough and are
difficult territory for the hillwalker, and Liathach's summit ridge is
so rent with jagged and exposed pinnacles that it is reckoned to be the
most difficult terrain on the UK mainland. Only the Black Cuillin of
Skye are more challenging.
The Torridon trio are just the headline
acts in a whole bill of splendid mountains. A shy group of Munros lays
between Glen Carron and Glen Torridon, dominated by Beinn Liath Mhor
and Sgorr Ruadh, and the whole area is characterised by a host of
fascinating "lesser" hills - Beinn Dearg, Beinn an Eoin and Baosbheinn
to the north of the Torridon trio, for instance, or Beinn Damh, Beinn
na h-Eaglaise and Sgurr Dubh on the south side of Glen Torridon. The
area also contains a number of beautiful lakes - apart from Loch
Torridon itself special mention must be made of Loch Maree with its
mulltitude of islands and its forest surrounds, and the lovely duo of
Lochs Clair and Coulin, which form beautiful foregrounds to the might
of Beinn Eighe. For those who prefer not to climb there are plenty of
magnificent valley and corrie walks in the area - the circumnavigation
of Liathach is a must, as is a visit to Coire Mhic Fearchair in the
west side of Beinn Eighe, reckoned to be Scotland's finest corrie, and
the low level route from Achnashellach to Loch Clair. Frankly, venture
into any valley between the Torridon hills and you will find yourself
in a world of unsurpassed, lonely and often savage beauty.
 |
Beinn Alligin, June 1991 (photos by Graham Jackson) |
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This page last updated 16th April 2005
