Corrieshalloch Gorge

Corrieshalloch Gorge is one of the most spectacular slot gorges in Britain — a mile-long, 60-metre-deep box canyon cut by glacial meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age, spanned by a swaying Victorian suspension bridge and crossed by the thundering Falls of Measach.

The route starts from the National Trust for Scotland's Corrieshalloch Gorge gateway centre and car park, just west of Braemore Junction on the A832 Dundonnell road, with toilets and a café on site (though the main car park closes outside opening hours — a small layby and an overflow car park nearby remain accessible). Two routes are signed from the centre: a short, steep path leading directly to the historic 1874 suspension bridge — built by Sir John Fowler, the engineer behind the Forth Bridge and London's first underground railway — with room for only six people at a time, swaying gently as the River Droma crashes over the 45-metre Falls of Measach far below. Across the bridge, a cantilevered metal viewing platform gives an equally dramatic, vertigo-inducing look back down into the chasm.

The longer route continues along the top of the gorge through Strone Wood on a mostly level, wheelchair-accessible path, past a beautifully carved bench with views down Strath More towards Loch Broom, before the path descends to join Lady Fowler's Fern Walk — part of the original designed landscape around Braemore Castle — running along the gorge edge back towards the suspension bridge. Both routes can be combined into a single circuit of around 3.5 kilometres.

This is a well-maintained but genuinely thrilling walk given the sheer depth of the gorge — the surrounding paths can be treacherous after rain, and children and dogs should be kept under close supervision at all times near the unfenced sections of the gorge edge.

Parking at Corrieshalloch Gorge is chargeable (free for National Trust for Scotland members); a bus stop at Braemore Junction, serviced by buses from Ullapool and Gairloch, is a short walk from the start.