Islay has many opportunities to discover its stunning nature and walking is one of the best ways to discover the island. There are strenuous walks to reach the more remote parts of Islay where you can discover mountains, caves, arches and sea stacks.

Take for instance Soldier's Rock, Islay's Sea Stack on the Oa Peninsula. You can reach this magnificent natural feature via a track that starts at Kintra Farm and is referred to as a "Walk on the Wild Side". On this beautiful walk you pass the ruined townships of Tockmal and Grasdale before you reach the rocky shore of the Oa. This is just one example of a beautiful Islay walk. If you prefer beaches you came to the right island as well.

Besides beaches and walks on the wild side there is a walk on the gentle side as well. There is a wee and rather hidden woodland walk at the RSPB reserve at Loch Gruinart. The walk itself is around one mile and it is very sheltered which makes it perfect for a windy day and for kids too. Continue reading.....

The entrance of the walk is the same as for the RSPB hide, from the single track road towards Ardnave, a few hundred metres from the RSPB visitor centre. This walk is particularly beautiful in spring when the Blue Bells are out and they are at least as pretty and numerous as in the Bridgend woods. The track itself is really nice, you can find many different flowers and plants and every now and then you have beautiful views over the Gruinart Flats. There is even a possibility to spot Roe Deer! A highly recommended walk as you can see from the pictures below and I'm sure that when fairies exist this is one of the tracks where you can find them.

Start of RSPB woodland walk

Bluebells on the RSPB woodland walk

You can see more images of this lovely walk in this Wee report

Tag: walking rspb gruinart woodland spring