Isle of Rum Kinloch, Scotland
United Kingdom
Frequently Asked Questions
Expedition tenders land passengers at Kinloch pier, at the head of Loch Scresort on the east coast. That is where the island's thirty or so residents live. Beyond it lie forty square kilometres of mountains, peat bog and roadless coast.
Not much, and that is deliberate: a community shop, a village hall that doubles as a café in season, a reserve visitor centre and a handful of houses scattered under the trees. NatureScot rangers explain the wildlife and the paths, and run guided walks in summer.
The southern shore path leads in an easy hour return to seal-watching viewpoints. The waterfall trail climbs into the woods behind the village. Experienced walkers head for the Bealach Bairc-mheall pass to get close to the peaks, without attempting the full Rum Cuillin.
No, it is closed to the public and its future is under discussion. Its red sandstone facade, seen from the shore path, is still worth the walk: built in 1900 for George Bullough, heir to a Lancashire industrialist, it served as an Edwardian playground complete with exotic gardens, alligators in a glasshouse and a mechanical orchestrion.
Red deer, around a thousand of them, often visible near the paths and the subject of one of the longest continuous animal studies in the world, begun in the 1950s. White-tailed eagles, reintroduced here in 1975, patrol the loch; golden eagles hold the ridges. Tens of thousands of Manx shearwaters nest high on the mountains.
Good waterproof boots: the ground is soft almost everywhere. Add a windproof layer and, from late July to late August, insect repellent. The Scottish midge becomes insistent on windless days.
Since 1957. It is an open-air laboratory where researchers have tracked red deer since the 1950s and where Britain's largest raptors have found a stronghold. Rum is the biggest of the Small Isles, bristling with Norse-named peaks: Askival, Hallival, Trollabhal.
With reservations. The shore path and the woods behind the village work well, but everything else demands stamina and sure footing. There are no services, no transport and no medical cover on the island: this is not a call for improvising.
Pound sterling and English. The community shop is the only retail outlet and there is no cash machine, so carrying some cash is sensible, especially for local produce and the village hall café.
May to early September. The ranger walks run, the paths are at their best and Manx shearwaters occupy the heights. Red deer are visible year-round, and the September rut is a memorable thing to hear.
