From Arivegaig to the the Singing Sands

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Park at the Arivegaig road end at NM 649676 on OS Explorer 390.
This is a long walk which many people cover without looking around too much, but there is a lot to see.

The track is easy to follow since it is regularly used by cars. You are passing round the west side of Kentra Bay and anyone with binoculars will see a few waders along the shore line. Note the power line on the right, this runs to (or from) a small hydro-electric generator at Gorten, just off the track.

Beyond the power station the track crosses the burn over a new bridge, you can see the remains of an earlier bridge and the ford which preceeded both of them.

A little further on you pass Gorteneorn where there is a house built from the same plans as Salen Hotel. On the beach are piles of rocks which were ballast from boats collecting birch wood to take south for making cotton reels. After the deer stile, the road passes through a conifer plantation with several large nests of wood ants on the right side. At the top of the hill is a clearing which was once the site of a school.

The Singing Sands are down a well-used branch of the track on the right side. They don't really sing, it's more like a squeaking caused by friction among the rounded wind-blown sand grains, but only when the sand is very dry.



At the west end of the beach is the village of Gortenfearn. The beach extends for a long way and has many historic connections, remains in this area having been found dating from Viking, Civil War and World War II periods.


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