Out and About
in the Sunart area

What is there to do around Clamhan?

Clamhan is high on the hill above Loch Sunart, a classic fiord and the longest east-west sea loch in Britain. The loch itself has many designations, including eleven SSSIs - it is a National Scenic Area and a candidate European Special Area of Conservation. The area is technically a temperate rain forest - the Sunart Oakwoods Initiative has a special website at www.sunartoakwoods.org.uk which will give you much more information on the flora and fauna of the area. Forest Enterprise has created several picnic sites and special walks along the loch, and just a mile or so from the Clamhan turn is the Ardery wildlife hide, where seals, otters and golden eagles are common - take your binoculars and see if you can spot one of the increasingly-common white-tailed sea eagles.

Music is a part of Highland life, and there is a lot of it around here, ranging from internationally-known names such as Capercaillie, Blazing Fiddles and the Battlefield band to local groups, including our astonishingly talented young folk. The two main venues are the Sunart Centre, in Strontian (www.sunartcentre.org) and the Glenuig Hall (www.glenuig.org.uk), and gigs are regularly advertised.

Going west from Clamhan you pass the Resipole Caravan Park, which has an excellent restaurant open to all, as well as superb art gallery. Further west, towards Glenborrodale, is an RSPB bird reserve, and at Glenborrodale, unmissable, is the Ardnamurchan Natural History Centre, an interpretative centre, gift shop and coffee stop. Beyond that, on the westernmost point on the British mainland, is the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, open to visitors and a prime whale-watching point. In the village hall at Kilchoan is a friendly tourist information centre.

Strontian is the centre for Clamhan, with shops, pubs, fuel and post office - try the Ben View for an excellent pub meal. Above Strontian are the old lead mines - it was here that the element strontium was discovered and named for the area.  Ariundle Woods, another woodland centre, has some exciting walks. From Strontian you can drive the spectacular mountain road over the shoulder of Ben Resipole and down to lonely Polloch, on the shores of inland Loch Shiel.

To the north the cruise boat MV Sileas, operating from both Glenfinnan and Acharacle along seventeen-mile long Loch Shiel, does regular ceilidh and wildlife cruises- see www.highlandcruises.co.uk for the timetable.

For a longer day out you can go to Mallaig and watch the fishing fleet unload, or take the Shearwater from Arisaig across to the Small Isles of Rum, Muck, Canna or Eigg and explore an island way of life you may not be aware exists.

To the south, the road to Lochaline puts you on a ferry to the Isle of Mull and the romantic abbey on the Isle of Iona.

Further afield is Fort William, nestling under Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis. A mountain gondola operates all year round up to Aonach Mor, sister to Ben Nevis, where there are excellent visitor facilities in summer or winter.

Clamhan, Ardery, Strontian, PH36 4HX, telephone 01967 402118, email info@clamhan.co.uk