Huisinish - Harris
Circular walk: 5 miles
what3words address for parking:
///automatic.pastels.souk
There is a small car park at the Hushinish community building. It gets busy and we had to wait a short while before we could get into the car park. There are toilets here too; you are asked to make a voluntary donation for their upkeep. The car park is free for motorbikes and cars. Motorhomes need to pay – it was £5 for the day and £10 overnight when we visited.
This is a popular walk and versions can be found on several sites, for example, ‘Walk Highlands.’
Most people seem to walk this clockwise but we decided to walk it anti-clockwise, largely to get a potentially boggy section approaching Loch na Cleabhaig out of the way first and to finish the walk with the sea views.
The path from the community building (beside the small Scottish Water building by the car park) is easy to follow at first. The path becomes rocky, narrow and there are some steep sections  as it traverses the cliffs.
When the track divides, after about half a mile, we took the right fork that heads towards Loch na Cleabhaig. The track peters out, though there is a vague path to follow. As you come down towards the loch it virtually disappears and you need to find the best route that works for you.
We were expecting it to be far boggier than it turned out to be but you definitely need good, waterproof boots.
The track reappears once you get closer to the house at Crabhadail and a notice asks you to stay on the path and respect the privacy of the house.
We stopped at the beach for a bite to eat (peaceful and deserted) before making our way back over Meilein (intermittent paths visble, aim for the top of the hill). We then headed to the beach at Traigh Mheilein and continued along the sand before climbing back onto the dunes at the southern end. Another deserted, stunning beach.
From here we worked our way back to where we had forked right on our way out. The path was easy to follow and led us back to the car park at Hushinish.
It was only five miles, but the conditions, steeper sections and rocky path made it feel longer. However, it was a beautiful walk and the views and landscape were stunning. Well worth the effort!
hiking
PeterHadfield on scottexservices.com