Tour Scotland, Suilven

In the North of Scotland, in Sutherland, some four or five miles inland from Lochinver, is to he found Suilven, ‘the
Sugar Loaf As can be seen clearly from our illustration Suilven, when viewed from the coast, rises majestically in isolated splendour from the bogs and moors of the Glen Canisp Forest. Although attaining a maximum elevation of only 2,339 feet, its very aloofness and starkness make it appear much loftier and more overwhelming than its actual height would suggest. Its alternate name of Pillar Hill is most apt when viewed from Lochinver.

Seen from Loch Sionascaig to the south however Suilven is revealed, not as an isolated cone, but as a three-peaked serrated ridge more than a mile in length running from west to east above Fionn Loch and Loch Veyatie. The great sheer rock cliffs which appear to climb almost
perpendicularly to the sky are very aptly named Caisteal Liath, the Grey Castle.

These ‘walls’ have been conquered of course by mountaineers but the more pedestrian approach is by way of the track which leads up from Lochinver and
follows the line of the Abliairin na Clach Airidh to Loch Ganive and Loch Fada, up to the Great Pass, Bealach Mor. Beyond these two lochs, to the north, rises Canisp (2,779 feet), only slightly less impressive by reason of the fact that its flanks rise more gently from the north
through the outlying Beinn Gharbh (1,769 feet). In similar harmony, to the south across Loch Veyatie, rises Cul Mor
(2,786 feet). North-east of Suilven, at the head of Loch Assynt, is Inchnadamph, a small hamlet on the main A837 road, renowned as an angling centre. Brooding over the loch are the great masses of Quinag (2,653 feet) and Glas Bheinn (2,541 feet). These are among the oldest
rock formations in the world, being composed of Archaean gneiss rock and they reach their lofty summit east of Suilven, across the river Loan an, in Ben More Assynt (3,273 feet).

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