The Black Cuillin frame
From the hump of the bridge, Sgurr nan Gillean and Marsco stand behind the arches in one of the most famous views on the island.
Chmee2 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Richard Law — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gillfoto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
Skye's most photographed spot may well be neither a castle nor a waterfall but a small humpbacked stone bridge with three arches, behind which the Black Cuillin rise as though arranged for the frame. Thomas Telford built it in roughly 1810 to 1818 while pushing roads through the Highlands; once a modern bridge went up beside it on the A87 it was closed to traffic and left to walkers and cyclists. It has been Category B listed since October 1971, but its real worth is the view from its hump: the jagged summit of Sgurr nan Gillean to the south-west, the red bulk of Marsco to the south, and the River Sligachan sliding under the arches. The location could hardly be easier. It sits at the junction of the A87 (Portree to Broadford) and the A863 to Dunvegan, about 15 minutes south of Portree and roughly 25 from Broadford. A small free car park lies right at the bridge; it fills by late morning in July and August, but turnover is fast because most people stop for a five-minute photo and drive on. From the car park to the middle of the bridge is under a hundred metres on level ground, so it works for grandparents and small children, and a pushchair reaches the bridge itself without trouble. If you want more than a photograph, a path follows the river to the modest Sligachan waterfalls about a kilometre away: flat and easy, but boggy after rain and not pushchair territory. On the riverbank beside the bridge stands a bronze of the mountaineers Norman Collie and John Mackenzie, whose climbs opened up the Black Cuillin more than a century ago; it was unveiled in September 2020 after years of fundraising. Local legend says that anyone who holds their face in the river for seven seconds and lets it dry naturally is granted eternal beauty. The water is cold enough that you will believe anything afterwards. Keep expectations honest: this is a roadside stop, not a day out, and the hotel opposite is a bar-led place with its own microbrewery, so do not plan it as a family destination. Midges bite hard on still summer evenings, so carry repellent; in winter the scene turns to snow-dusted peaks under a daylight that ends before four. The best light is early morning or just before sunset, and the best months are May, June and September, when the midges are least trouble and the weather is at its most settled.
From the hump of the bridge, Sgurr nan Gillean and Marsco stand behind the arches in one of the most famous views on the island.
Hold your face in the river for seven seconds and let it dry on its own, says the local tale, and beauty never leaves you.
A riverside bronze honouring the two men who opened the Black Cuillin to climbers, unveiled in September 2020.
Sligachan, off the A87, Isle of Skye IV47 8SW
Yes, because it costs you no detour at all: the car park is on the A87 itself and the bridge is a few steps away. Do not build a separate trip around it, though; fifteen minutes is plenty unless you walk the kilometre to the falls, and on a cloudy day half the view disappears into the cloud.
The bridge itself, yes: level ground from the car park and under a hundred metres of walking, and children enjoy the river and the statue. The path to the falls is boggy after rain and no place for a pushchair, and do not count on the hotel opposite as a family eating spot, since it is bar-led.