Heading for the hills through a lonely glen
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The Sika Trail, which starts at Rosehall west of Lairg, is currently closed due to the industrialisation of this stunning area, as well as forestry clearing. I didn’t know that until I turned up at the community trails car park and saw the notice.
Not to be deterred by this setback, I checked out the map and devised a Plan B with a difference. I had taken the mountain bike to Rosehall, but settled on a road ride up Glen Cassley, ending under the magnificent peak of Ben More Assynt.
These lesser travelled roads have a definite fascination for me, and this one didn’t disappoint; sometimes barren, sometimes lonely, but always interesting and inspiring.
I set off, turning right out of the car park onto the road and enjoying an easy freewheel start. At the bottom, on a right-hand bend, the Glen Cassley road is unobtrusively signed off to the right.
The single-track road spins past the Achness Hotel and up gently into the forest ahead, where more paths head off into the cleared woodland to meet up with the Rosehall trails.
I soon found myself transfixed by the beautiful and dramatic River Cassley, with its angular rock formations thrusting up from the riverbed as the water made its way down towards the Kyle of Sutherland.
The road follows the river closely for much of the early part of this ride, and I pulled into a passing place to allow an angler to overtake on his way up the road to fish in this popular salmon river.
As I went further north, the shape of Ben More Assynt became more and more prominent at the head of the glen, and it gave me a target to aim for. Duchally Lodge at the end of the public road is a little under 12 miles from my starting point, yet the only other person I saw was the postie. In fact, I’m sure the lodge gets its post earlier than I do in Inverness!
I did, however, see a deer – despite not getting to ride the Sika Trail – and a range of bird species as I enjoyed having this road to myself most of the way. The cows simply eyed me as I passed them within the Glenrossal Estate.
One marker I was looking out for was Glencassley Castle, yet it remained elusive until my return as it is so well hidden in the trees. The track leading to it is obvious enough, though, amid a forest of greenery.
The cloud skimmed the summit of Ben More Assynt then cleared away as I got closer. The road veers right around the side of Leathad Dail nan Cliabh before suddenly arriving at the road-end, where nothing more than a change of surface really indicates the point.
I headed down to the riverside and looked across, pondering on a possible route up the Munro via the footbridge just a few yards back. The map also suggests a possible mountain bike route over to Overscaig via Corrykinloch, albeit with a hellish climb over the shoulder of Maovally; and I’m not sure if the tracks are bikeable all the way.
Future planning over, I turned back into the headwind for my return journey to Rosehall, where I stopped briefly at the millennium cairn at the corner of the main road before tackling the climb back up to the forestry car park.
Later in the year I’ll be back here to check out the off-road route I came for – I just hope the viewpoint isn’t ruined by the new wind farm.
In the meantime, this was a nice unexpected bit of exploration and a chance to discover even more of the wonderful Highland countryside.
