Leave the car park by setting off along a path near the pub (signed ‘Coastal Path to Aros Park’), climbing a little at the end of a cliff, then going forward along a terraced path with the sea down below to your left. Throughout the walk there are stands of oak, beech, birch, hazel, alder, rowan and a few lime.
Spùt Dubh (Black Spout), as its name suggests, is a waterfall, a once-important supply of fresh, albeit peat-stained, water for ships in years gone by. Beyond that, a landslide some years ago necessitated a little re-routing, but the path maintains a steady course above the waters of Tobermory Bay, with Calve Island riding at anchor offshore, protecting the Tobermory harbour from east winds.
Where the busy Aros Burn meets the bay, a footbridge provides a fine viewing point for the nearby waterfall. Across the burn, take the left-hand path and soon reach a junction. Here, branch left (signed for the pier), and walk down to a T-junction close by a couple of sturdy buildings. A quick left turn here takes you down to the pier and its small nook-like harbour, with a lovely view across the bay to Tobermory.
Turn right and soon reach the north-western end of lily-covered Lochan a’ Ghurrabàin. As you do, turn left onto the Lochan Trail, and immediately right to follow a gentle path all around the lake through mature woodland. At the far end of the lake, the path divides. Branch right, and, just on crossing a simple footbridge spanning a stream (with a dilapidated pump house nearby) flowing from the distant Lochan na Guailne Duibhe away to the south-east, keep right, still on the Lochan Trail.
When the path next divides, take the left-hand branch, walking up to a large car park and picnic area. This spot may be reached more directly – to effect a shorter walk, or for that matter a picnic – by leaving the A848 at NM 509 541, at Aros Lodge.
The car park is the site of Aros House, owned by the Allan family, shipowners from Liverpool, who were resident here from 1874 until 1959. The gardens were planted by Alexander Allan, who tended the estate with great care and lived the life of a respectable country gentleman. By the 1950s, the estate had become a financial drain, and the Forestry Commission bought the land but had no use for the house, which was sold on and later stripped of its oak panelling and lead roofing. In time, left as a shell, the house became a danger and the army demolished it in 1962.
Lochan a’ Ghurrabàin, Aros Park
Cross the car park, heading towards a small toilet block, just past which you find another path taking you back among the trees. This path, too, soon divides. Go left, climbing gently, and quickly arrive at a T-junction with the Aros Burn a few strides in front of you, and the lower waterfall and footbridge a short distance down to your right. If you want to extend the walking a little, then at the T-junction you can turn left and walk up beside the burn, crossing a main trail, and continuing to the upper waterfall. There are linking paths to get you back on line, but the simplest expedient is to return to the lower waterfall.
Cross the footbridge, and retrace your steps to Tobermory.
WALK 1.2
Rubha nan Gall
| Start | Tobermory car park (NM 505 551) |
| Distance | 5.2km (3¼ miles) |
| Ascent | 180m (590ft) |
| Terrain | Woodland paths across steep slope; golf course |
| Map | OS Explorer 374 Isle of Mull North and Tobermory |
The brightly coloured houses of Tobermory are a delightful prelude to this mainly woodland walk to the lighthouse at Rubha nan Gall, the Headland of the Stranger. Although you can simply return the same way, there is an agreeable alternative that climbs up onto the headland and then treks around the edge of Tobermory’s lumpy but beautiful golf course.
Tobermory, the main town on Mull, takes its name from the well and chapel of St Mary, although no-one seems to know precisely where (somewhere below the cemetery) the well is located. What remains of the chapel is found in the old part of the cemetery. The town was established in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society, although fishing never prospered here, in spite of the sheltered nature of the bay.
Walk to the far end of Tobermory, to the ferry point, and look for a path rising on the left just after the last building. This climbs easily, and soon wanders into light woodland, and then by a generally level path through a tunnel of trees around the edge of the bay.
At NM 511 565, the track divides. You will return to this point, but for now bear right and follow an improving, but sometimes muddy, path that suddenly breaks free of the woodland. Now, cross a steep slope covered with heather, bracken, gorse and birch, with a lovely view across the Sound of Mull to Ardnamurchan. Soon, the lighthouse at Rubha nan Gall comes into view, seemingly hunkered down among the rocks, until you get closer and see that it lies at the end of a small pier.
Just before reaching the light, there are steps on the right down to a memorial viewpoint, commemorating Robert John Brown, who lived close by in Tobermory, and whose father, Archibald, founded Browns shop in Tobermory. This is a useful place to spend a few minutes identifying distant landmarks, not least the squat triangle of Ben Hiant across the sound.
Press on along a clear path to reach the former lighthouse keepers’ cottages at Rubha nan Gall and the lighthouse, first lit in 1857, and automated in the 1960s. Going further, beyond the light, takes you into difficult terrain, and is not advised.
Lighthouse, Rubha nan Gall
Tobermory
Northwards lies so-called Bloody Bay, where in 1480 a great sea battle took place between John, the last Lord of the Isles, and his son Angus. On that day the tide came ashore red with blood. And, as Jim Crumley explains in The Heart of Mull, so it is that the oystercatcher owes its red beak and legs to its forebears who waded along the shore on that fateful day.
Retrace your steps to the point where the path divided, and there turn right, climbing easily through the woodland to reach its upper rim at an iron fence stanchion. Here turn left, pursuing a pleasant path above the upper limit of the woodland, undulating gently upwards through bracken to reach a step-stile at the edge of Tobermory golf course.
Cross the stile and keep left, following the manicured edges of the golf course, a splendid experience when stray golf balls are not flying in your direction. Keep on, with lovely views of Calve Island, until a path takes you away from the course edge, descending for a while, but then emerging back onto the golf course edge. Continue beyond the fifth green, and then ultimately the fifth tee, after which a path leads to an iron gate in a corner.
Through the gate you enter a neck of woodland, and in a few strides turn left to follow a clear path round the edge of Bad-Daraich house to a road head at Oakfield (NM 509 555). Now turn left, and when you reach the war memorial, turn left beside it, taking a descending path and steps that lead to the path used at the start of the walk. Turn right to return to the edge of Tobermory at the Calmac pier.
SUNKEN TREASURE
Those who enjoy a good yarn may find appeal in the story that an Armada galleon carrying untold treasure was destroyed close by