Key Facts

• Location: West of Harris, Outer Hebrides
• Size: 1475 hectares
• Terrain: Undulating and mixed, including bog, rock and grass mostly following animal tracks or finding free-range routes.
• Access: Kayak; private boat
• Height gain: 507 metres
• Map: OS Explorer 455 South Harris
• Starting point: Landing beach near Paible, Grid ref. NG 033 993

Taransay walk summary

This completely free-range walk follows the deer tracks that circumnavigate the island’s outer edge. It includes stunning beach crossings, a magnificent rock arch, mysterious ruins and legends and far-reaching views with the layered-blue peaks of Harris as the backdrop.

The island is a patchwork of hard rock that rises through the grass and machair, with heather moorland on the higher slopes and boggier ground in the north. As a result this rugged route is undulating and crosses a mix of terrains and is utterly enchanting.

Taransay walk route details

The clockwise walk starts at the landing beach between the two rocky headlands of Sgonn and Sgeir Bhuailte, the latter meaning ‘Smitten Rock’ and said to mark the site of a massacre. An invading Lewis clan slaughtered Taransay’s inhabitants but were, in turn, attacked and killed by the islanders of Berneray when they fled to this rock.

The first point of interest after the landing beach is Paible at Taransay’s most southerly point. Once the main settlement, there are now only a few buildings in various states of repair including a long barn, farmhouse, and school chalet.

The latter two were renovated as part of the BBC’s reality TV series Castaway 2000, which revolved around the challenges faced by the 36 men, women and children recruited to live on this remote uninhabited island for a year. Their task was to build a sustainable, self-sufficient community from scratch and the series marked the beginning of Ben Fogle’s fame.

Paibeil is also the site of two early chapels that are shrouded in local legend. St Taran’s, in the beach landing area, is marked by a rectangular hollow and the remains of ancient, turf-covered walls. Of St Keith’s, located just south of Paible ‘village’, just grassy mounds and foundation walls remain. In the shore below the chapel foundations, erosion continually exposes new material from shell middens, making it a great place to explore.

Ancient tradition stipulated that a man must not be buried in St Taran’s, nor a woman in St Keith’s, yet a mixed burial took place in one of the graveyards. According to local legend, the following morning one of the bodies was found lying out on the ground beside the grave.

The bay slightly to the southwest of Paibeil is known as Miosadar and was the site of a small village before the sea broke through to leave a sand cliff of up to 3.5 metres high. On the face of the cliff a beautiful prehistoric midden full of empty shells and pottery has been revealed. New material emerges and can often be seen in the sand.

Just west of Paibiel, Allt a’ Mhuilinn (the Mill Burn) joins the sea. From its source at Loch an Duin, it tumbles down through two more lochs, Loch Sionadail and Cromlach. The stream can be followed, as an additional walk, up to Loch an Duin where there is a small fort on an islet near the shore.

Further along the coast, just before the isthmus on a grassy slope above the beach, are the remains of the settlement of Uidh and a standing stone known as Clach an Teampuill  – a tall pillar of gneiss with a bold cross carved on one face.

Beyond the brilliant white beaches of the isthmus, on the western part of Taransay, Aird Vanish is a wild and lonely area of rocks, moor, and sea caves with the twin peaks of Hearrabhal and Bualabhal. Turning north from its most southerly point at Rubha Sgeirigin, you leave the relatively sheltered Sound of Taransay to encounter the full force of the Atlantic and a more eroded landscape. There are few places shielded from the wind and waves here except for Bagh a’ Chaigeal where the people of Harris once stopped off with their horses, en route to the forest of North Harris for the summer grazing. The highlight of this undulating section of the walk is the magnificent natural rock arch at Roagh. On a high tide the water boils in the chasm far below and the pounding reverberates through your body. You can literally feel the energy in this highly charged place.

Crossing the isthmus back to the eastern part of the island, you are offered a fascinating insight into island life of the past. On the hillsides behind Camas Chleiteir and at the northernmost tip, Rubha nan Totag, the ridge-and-furrow lines of lazy beds indicate how root vegetable and grains were cultivated. The multiple sheilings and ruins of longhouses, barns, byres, and corn-drying kilns along the northeast coast are testament to the harsh life of crofters on Taransay.

The final section of the walk is marked by the spectacular sand spit at Corran Ra, the setting for the film The Rocket Post. Based on the true story of German Gerhard Zucher, the film recreates his attempts at sending mail between the Scottish islands by rocket just before World War II. The producers chose this beautiful spot on Taransay over Scarp, the true location of the story.

Download the GPX route for further details on the walk around Taransay. More walks in our Islandeering book.

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