Glen
Glen Brittle
The Cuillin's back door — fairy pools at the entrance, serious gabbro peaks at the head, and midges that will find you in both places.
- Length
- 10km
- Munros
- 11
- Wild swimming
- 2
- Highest peak
- Sgurr Alasdair (992m)
Glen Brittle is where you go if you mean the Black Cuillin seriously. The narrow road drops southwest from Carbost onto the west coast of Skye and ends at a campsite and beach below the highest peaks of the Cuillin ridge. The glen has two distinct characters: the Fairy Pools at its northern end, where the Allt Coir' a' Mhadaidh runs through a series of clear plunge pools that have become one of the most visited natural features in Scotland; and the climbing hut and campsite at the road's end, which is the operational base for everything from the Cuillin traverse to individual peak bagging.
The Fairy Pools problem is real. A dedicated car park now exists at the trailhead, but on clear summer days it fills and the path is crowded for most of the day. The pools themselves are genuinely beautiful and the swimming is cold and spectacular. But the management of the site is still catching up with its popularity. Arrive before 8am or after 5pm in July and August.
The road in
Single-track road etiquette
Pull into passing places to let oncoming vehicles pass. Don't park in passing places. If a faster vehicle is behind you, pull over and let them past. Do not reverse at speed — wait in a passing place.
End of road
Glen Brittle campsite and beach at the foot of the Cuillin. The road ends at the campsite on the shore, near the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut.
Parking2 spots
Fairy Pools Car Park
Paid — run by the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland; see the parking guide for charges
Fills early on fine summer days; do not queue or park on the single-track road.
Overflow: Glenbrittle campsite car park (lower priority)
Fairy Pools Car Park parking guide — cost, grid ref & arrival times →
Glenbrittle Campsite
50+ camping pitches, 30 car spaces
Campsite — nightly pitch fees apply; ask on site about day parking for the Cuillin
Hills from Glen Brittle11 Munros
Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle
985.8m
Sgurr na Banachdich (Sgurr na Banachdaich)
965m
Sgurr Alasdair
992m
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich
948.1m
Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh
972.1m
An Cruachan
435m
Sgurr Dubh Mor
944.1m
Sgurr nan Eag
926.3m
Sgurr a' Mhadaidh
918m
Beinn a' Bhraghad
461m
Bruach na Frithe
958.8m
Am Basteir
934m
Sgurr nan Gillean
966.1m
Wild swimming2 spots nearby
What's in the glen
Fairy Pools
The Fairy Pools are a series of clear-water plunge pools on the Allt Coir' a' Mhadaidh. The walk from the car park from the car park is one of the most visited on Skye — expect crowds in summer. Swimming in the pools is popular but cold.
Black Cuillin ridge
The Black Cuillin is among the most serious mountain ranges in Britain — gabbro and basalt peaks requiring hands-on scrambling or technical climbing to reach. The ridge traverse is a serious mountaineering undertaking requiring ropework. Glen Brittle is the main base for Cuillin approaches from the west.
Allt Coir' a' Mhadaidh
Our take
Glen Brittle separates the serious from the casual and it does so efficiently. The Fairy Pools attract everyone; the Cuillin above attract people who genuinely know what they are doing. The two populations barely interact. If you are here for the Cuillin, base yourself at the campsite, accept the midges as a fact of life, and focus on the rock — the gabbro here gives friction like nothing else in Britain and on a good day the ridge traversing is as good as anything in the Alps at a fraction of the commitment. If you are here for the pools, go early.
History
Glen Brittle lies within the Dunvegan estate, which runs the campsite at the road end.
The glen's place in mountaineering history is unusually concentrated. Sheriff Nicolson made the first recorded ascent of Sgurr Alasdair from the glen in 1873. Norman Collie and John Mackenzie — the latter often described as Britain's first professional mountain guide — developed many of the classic Cuillin routes from a base at the Sligachan Hotel and the Glen Brittle area between 1880 and the 1920s. The Glen Brittle Memorial Hut, opened in 1965 and run jointly by the British Mountaineering Council and Mountaineering Scotland, is the standard climbing-club base for the western Cuillin.
Practical
- Mobile signal
- Limited at Fairy Pools car park. None in the corries or on the Cuillin.
- Midges
- Very high(5/5)
- Stalking estate
- Dunvegan Estate
- Public transport
- No public transport to Glen Brittle itself. Bus to Carbost village then 8km cycle or taxi.
- Dogs
- On lead — livestock or ground-nesting birds present.
Map
Hills (green), bothies (brown), parking (blue), wild swimming (light blue).
Nearby glens
Scotland outdoor updates
Route guides, condition reports and seasonal picks — once a month, no noise.
Glen Brittle — common questions
- What kind of road runs through Glen Brittle?
- Single-track with passing places. Glen Brittle campsite and beach at the foot of the Cuillin. The road ends at the campsite on the shore, near the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut.
- Can I take a motorhome or campervan into Glen Brittle?
- We'd say no for larger vehicles: Glen Brittle's narrow road, tight turns and limited passing space punish motorhomes and big campervans. Leave the van at a road end elsewhere and come in on foot.
- Are there midges in Glen Brittle?
- Expect a severe midge season in Glen Brittle (5/5), running late May to September. The worst of it comes on sheltered, humid evenings — breezy spots and the high tops stay clearer. Smidge and a head net earn their place from May onwards.
- Can I wild camp in Glen Brittle?
- You can. Scotland's Land Reform Act 2003 gives a right to wild camp on most unenclosed land, subject to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code: stay off enclosed agricultural ground, keep numbers small, leave no trace. Note the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Camping Management Zones and their seasonal restrictions do not cover Glen Brittle.
- Can I get to Glen Brittle without a car?
- No public transport to Glen Brittle itself. Bus to Carbost village then 8km cycle or taxi.