Undiscovered Scotland

 

Corrieshalloch Gorge can be found 12 miles south-east of Ullapool. It is a spectacularly deep, mile long box canyon through which the River Droma descends towards Loch Broom, en route forming the 150ft high Falls of Measach. There are few outdoor attractions in the Highlands best seen after heavy rain, but Corrieshalloch Gorge is certainly one of them, and when the river is in spate the falls produce a mist which drifts along the gorge.

The gorge is accessed from the south, from a visitor centre that opened in 2023 a short distance west along the A832 Dundonnell and Gairloch road from its junction with the main A835 Inverness to Ullapool road. Previously access was from a car park further to the west and, in the more distance past, from a layby on the A835. (Continues below image...)

 

The path brings you to the south end of the Corrieshalloch Suspension Bridge. This was built to allow tourists a better view of the gorge in 1874 and designed by the eminent engineer Sir John Fowler. Sir John is perhaps better known for his role in helping design the Forth Bridge, on which construction began nine years later in 1883. His bridge over the Corrieshalloch Gorge is more modest in scale, with a span of 82ft, but it has nonetheless stood the test of time.

The bridge gives you your first real sense of what you have come to see, and if you have any sort of fear of heights, crossing it is a challenge. A few feet out onto the bridge you suddenly become aware of the drop of some 200ft into the gorge below, and the bridge itself has an interesting tendency to sway as you walk along it. This is one reason why the number of visitors allowed on the bridge is limited to six at any one time.

From the bridge you follow a path west among trees parallel to the north side of the gorge. This brings you to a viewing platform cantilevered out half way over the gorge from the north side. This is a more recent addition than the bridge. It offers stupendous views of the Falls of Measach to the east: and provides another stern test for those with vertigo. On the way back to the car park you can choose to return the way you came or, after recrossing the bridge, you can follow a path which takes a circular route, leading first along the south side of the gorge to another fine viewpoint.

The Corrieshalloch Gorge was not carved out by the river that flows through it today. Instead it was probably formed towards the end of the last ice age when the glacier that formed Loch Broom started to melt and large volumes of water flowed beneath the base of the glacier, carving out the rock below.