The mountains of Torridon are some of the most magnificent in Scotland. The good news is that my surveys have so far revealed northern prongwort to be a lot more widespread than was first realised. Our path from the shore of Loch Maree rose beside a rushing stream through banks of bracken and bilberry. This is one of the rare surviving fragments of 'The Great Wood of Caledon', which once clothed most of the Highlands. It rises over 1,000m at its highest point and presents an uncompromising assortment of cliffs, screes, corries and buttresses to anyone who ventures high into the range. An amazing trail that takes you up the Beinn Eigh mountain ridge towards two munro's (a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914 m)): Ruadh-Stac Mor and Spidean Coire nan Clach. Route Scotland: Beinn Eighe (western summits) - Torridon, Scotland (United Kingdom) An amazing trail that takes you up the Beinn Eigh mountain ridge towards two munro's (a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914 m)): Ruadh-Stac Mor and Spidean Coire nan Clach. Beinn Eighe NNR might be best known for Scots pine, red deer and golden eagles, but if you happen to be walking the old ‘Pony path’ into the heart of the Reserve, and you take a glance down at your feet now and again, there’s a fair chance you might spot one of the world’s rarest plants. This makes bryophytes especially important as a ‘pioneer species’, colonising areas that are otherwise unable to support plant life. This short, attractive walk in the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve begins from the visitor centre - a great source of information. Scotland: Beinn Eighe (western summits) Hiking trail in Torridon, Scotland (United Kingdom). Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre, Aultroy NH 0199 6299 We are guided by the internal SNH instruction note “Fire Plans and Firefighting on SNH Occupied Land” (A2145299). Please. The reserve was set up in 1951 — 65 years ago this month — to protect the largest fragment of ancient Caledonian pinewood in northwest Scotland, the Coille na Glas Leitir (Wood of the Grey Slope). Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail: Fantastic views on an easy to follow path. Walking | Mountain Trail, Beinn Eighe NNR | Summary:Billed as Britains only waymarked mountain walk, this superlative walk is one of a kind. Preferring damp habitats, bryophytes don’t require soil, gaining their nutrition entirely from rainwater. It's really an entire mountain range comprising several distinct summits, two of which are Munros ( Beinn Eighe - Ruadh-stac Mor, 1010m, and Beinn Eighe - Spidean Coire nan Clach, 993m). For visitors who would like to find out more about Beinn Eighe, there’s a visitor centre … It centres around the Beinn Eighe range of rugged peaks, edges and scree slopes. © David Genney. Mountain hiking, hillwalking and scrambling routes up Beinn Eighe in Torridon including the Munro summits of Ruadh-stac Mor and Spidean Coire nan Clach and other peaks such as Sail Mhor, the Triple Buttress of Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Ruadh-stac Beag, Meall a'Ghiuthais and the Black Carls. As these primitive plants grew and died, over many generations their decaying remains would have helped form the first thin layers of soil, eventually allowing for higher plants to gain a foothold. This has involved the regular monitoring of known plots and recording any new colonies that I find. The Pinecone trail and the path to Kinlochewe have flat, level surfaces and low gradients. Another path connects these trails to the village of Kinlochewe. 2 Where the path forks go right and follow this as it traverses north then east around the flanks of Sail Mhor, Beinn Eighe's north-western peak. From here a path leads all the way around the back of Liathach. Regular monitoring can also reveal the presence of pollutants entering the food chain that could be potentially hazardous to species higher up the chain, including us humans. Growing in dense clusters up to 20 cm long, northern prongwort is distinguishable by its tiny prong-like leaves and numerous side-shoots. This is encouraging, as the greater the area of its distribution, then the greater its chances of long term survival. Surveying and monitoring bryophytes like northern prongwort can provide early indications of change in the habitats where these plants grow. Well, they just happen to be among the oldest of all plant groups, having been among the first plants to colonise the land around 500 million years ago. We aren’t experienced hikers but thoroughly enjoyed this trail. Torridon & Beinn Eighe. Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre, Aultroy NH 0199 6299 We are guided by the internal SNH instruction note “Fire Plans and Firefighting on SNH Occupied Land” (A2145299). The trail can take quite long, not because of the distance or the height, but because of the breathtaking views. Read more. Another path branches off it at the west end of Beinn Eighe and leads around the end of Sail Mor, the mountain's most westerly spur. The trail is primarily used for … Beinn Eighe is the bulkiest of the trinity of great Torridon peaks. This section of the ridge makes a fine traverse with magnificent views; it may involve less scrambling than Beinn Alligin or Liathach, but compensation comes when Coire Mhic Fhearchair is reached during the descent; this is the most spectacular of all Torridon's corries. Beinn Eighe is a mighty mountain. Given that some of our most important medicines have derived from the plant world, some of those being only recent discoveries, then there’s no telling what secrets these hidden gems might reveal to us in the future. Beinn Eighe Path. Walking | Mountain Trail, Beinn Eighe NNR | Summary:Billed as Britains only waymarked mountain walk, this superlative walk is one of a kind. YCW2020 A Day in the Life – Freshwater and Wetlands Advice Manager Iain Sime, Cairt-làir – lus beag le cliù mòr / Tormentil – little plant with a big reputation, A new way to benefit nature on farms and crofts, #YCW2020 A Day in the Life – Peatland ACTION Project Officer Matthew Cook. It started winding up through the woodland … Discover Beinn Eighe NNR for yourself  on the NNR website. With a cluster of mountain peaks, ancient pinewoods, secretive crossbills and soaring golden eagles, it’s no wonder that Beinn Eighe was Britain’s first National Nature Reserve. For the more experienced and prepared hiker, this area offers plenty of opportunities for a challenging and rewarding day out. And with its white quartzite upper reaches and scree-covered flanks, and its surprisingly complex and extensive topography, Beinn Eighe is in our view the most magnificent in Torridon: though it's a close run thing with its westerly neighbour, Liathach. So what makes bryophytes so interesting? I’d never been back to climb Beinn Eighe’s other Munro, the outlier of Ruadh-stac Mor, so today’s plan was to head out of the corrie up the scree to reach the ridge and climb that Munro, then follow the ridge to Spidean before descending. Beinn Eighe NNR might be best known for Scots pine, red deer and golden eagles, but if you happen to be walking the old ‘Pony path’ into the heart of the Reserve, and you take a glance down at your feet … Anticlockwise circuit of Ben Eighe from P on A896. Walked round the back into Coire Mhic Fhearchair, up the scree to the left of the Triple Buttress, then to the two Munros and a direct descent to the path to the car park. welshyboyo: 30/06/2018: Beinn Eighe Munros and Tops from Glen Torridon: Geoff Briggs: 28/05/2018 This is one of the rare surviving fragments of 'The Great Wood of Caledon', which once clothed most of the Highlands. Stuart is currently working with us a one year placement at Beinn Eighe NNR following his completion of an HND in Countryside Management at SRUC. Old weathered tree trunk on the path of Beinn Eighe Woodland Trail on the shores of Loch Maree, Scotland. © Stuart MacKenzie. 894646. Stuart MacKenzie, SRUC Placement at Beinn Eighe NNR. From Coille na Glas-Leitir car park Date of experience: August 2020. This is a fabulous trail to explore the hills of Beinn Eighe and this trail is the only waymarked mountain trail in Britain. It does however take me to some remote parts of the Reserve that are otherwise rarely visited. As you might imagine, this involves an awful lot of leg work, as well as making good use of a handheld GPS device. If arriving from Achnasheen in the east it is the eastern tops that you see first - the quartz rock giving the appearance of a snow-topped peak overlooking the small village of Kinlochewe. Nature is all around you here, so take some time to enjoy this magical place. Northern prongwort is a liverwort which, along with their close cousins the mosses and hornworts, belong to a specialised group of plants known as bryophytes. The icy sections of path along with … As the path contours round the base of Sàil Mhòr, it splits at a cairn. Beinn Eighe is a multi-peaked mountain at the southern end of Loch Maree in the northwest Scottish Highlands. Well worth a visit. Beinn Eighe is largest mountain in the Torridon range - a complete mountain range in itself. 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