Skye Trail

The Skye Trail is the unofficial long-distance route across the Isle of Skye — 130 km from Rubha Hunish at the island's northernmost tip to Broadford on the east coast, traversing the Trotternish ridge, the Old Man of Storr, Portree, the Red and Black Cuillin's eastern flanks, and the wild Strath Suardal. It's one of the toughest waymarked routes in the UK — except it isn't waymarked at all. The trail was first proposed by Cameron McNeish and the late Norman Wilson in 1991 and remains entirely informal: no signs, no official body, no markers. Cicerone publishes the canonical guidebook.

The walk is conventionally north-to-south over 7 days. Day 1 is a remote 12 km along the cliffs of north Trotternish to Flodigarry. Day 2 climbs onto the Trotternish Ridge — a sustained 25 km of ridge walking that includes the dramatic Quiraing rock pinnacles, the Old Man of Storr at the route's photo-stop, and 1,000 m of cumulative climb. After Portree the trail enters the south of the island with bigger mountain country: the Red Cuillin's scree slopes, the Sligachan hostel, the long traverse below the Black Cuillin to the fishing village of Elgol (with a side-trip option up Bla Bheinn, one of the great Munros), and a final coastal section to Broadford.

The walking season is May to early October — outside, the high Trotternish in cloud is dangerous and the days are short. There's no permit; the trail is wild and unmarked. Sligachan, Portree, Elgol, and Broadford all have accommodation; wild camping (under Scotland's right-to-roam) is the norm between villages. Skye is famously wet (over 2,000 mm/year on the Cuillin) and famously midgy in June–August. Bus services from Inverness/Glasgow reach Broadford and Portree, but the start at Rubha Hunish requires a taxi from the Flodigarry hotel. Map and compass essential; the Trotternish in mist has caught out many a walker.