Walking

For less ambitious walkers the forestry track to Greenfield (gained by a short drive east from Tomdoun) and beyond is itself a rewarding and safe walk, signposted by the Scottish Rights of Way Society, giving fine views of Loch Garry. It can be reversed to its starting point at any convenient location, making a walk as long as you want. If you are really luck you might spot the elusive pine marten hereabouts.

And from the hotel doorstep itself a splendid historical ramble can be made to the shores of Loch Loyne. Tomdoun was originally established at the meeting of two drove roads, the one from Skye and the other from Knoydart. The road to Skye was eventually paved by the famous Scottish engineer Thomas Telford in the 1820s and was the main public vehicle road for over a century, but it is now closed to vehicles. Starting at the Church just 100 yards west of the hotel, this well surfaced road will take you the three miles to the Loch Loyne and the three miles back, in 3 to 4 hours.

Another walk steeped in history starts at Kinloch Hourn and heads into the wilderness of Knoydart at Barrisdale Bay. This was again a drove road, but was improved by the military engineers combating the Jacobite Rebellions of the eighteenth century. All along this road you can see the remains of military bridges and embankments built by the soldiers.

At Kinlochhourn itself are also the relics of the quays and other buildings associated with the herring boom here in the nineteenth century, when hundreds of ships and thousands of workers descended on the area in the fishing season. This is an easily followed walk, but it is over seven miles to Barrisdale in the heart of Knoydart, so the round trip should have at least eight hours set aside for it. On this walk you will have a good chance of seeing seals and otters in Loch Hourn, and I have also encountered badgers.