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Spar Cave is at the Village of Glasnakillie
on the west coast of the Isle of Skye, 16 miles
southwest of Broadford, 2 miles south of Elgol via one of
the most scenic roads on Skye. Postcode: IV49
9BQ.
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The top image right is of Glasnakillie
Cattle Grid at the entrance to the Village that
is just a few Cottages here and there.
Park well in at the Cattle Grid so not to
block the passing place, there are two more
parking spaces just over the Grid to the
left.
It is only a 5 minute walk from here to the
Rocky Beach, make sure you have good Hiking
Boots, Two Good Bright Lights, and get there
about an hour before Low Tide, as is the only
time you can get into the Cave, and you only
have about 1 hour each side of Low Tide before
the Cave is Blocked again, so could be stuck
there till the next low tide.
Check the Internet for Low Tide Times
for your day of Visit, Low Tides are about
every 12 hours.
Just over the Cattle Grid is an old Red
Phone Box, walk down past the Phone Box for
about 200 yards to a Gate at an Old Building,
opposite Spar Cottage.
Just down past the Old Building you will see
3 Trails, take the First Trail to the Left,
then follow that Trail as it sweeps round to
the right.
You will then see a Steep Well Eroded Trail
down through Trees to the Rocky Beach.
Once on the Rocky Beach, go round the
Headland on the Left/East, Spar Cave is just
round that Headland.
Spar Cave Inlet has a Huge Rock at the front
of it where you can go out onto to look right
into the Cave, as seen in the image right named
Spar Cave Inlet.
It is a long way into Spar Cave with a
Slippy Ledge on the Left Side to walk along if
the Tide is not right out when you get
there.
You know you are at Spar Cave when you see
an Old Broken Down Wall at the Entrance, this
was built in the early 1800s? to stop people
from visiting without a Guide.
The Wall was blown up by a passing Ship
looking for Target Practice, allegedly.
There are two entrances, take the one on the
left that goes Steep Uphill. This looks real
Slippy, but is Rough so fairly easy going, just
messes with your head as you keep thinking you
are going to slide all the way back down.
Once at the top of the steep section, there
is a flat section, then it is down into a Pool,
think that is as far as you can go.
The best images are from when you turn round
towards the entrance, / exit with the amazing
formations on the walls.
The formations on the floor are also real
impressive.
Heading back out into the Inlet shows just
how easy it would be to get stuck in the Cave
till the next low tide, 12 hours, as is long
and narrow, will no doubt fill up fast with
water when the tide starts coming back in.
You can go back up the Steep Trail or go
round an other two small Headlands on the west
side of the Steep Trail and up a far better
Trail to the Old Building that way, a nice
scenic route if the tide is still out far
enough. See the Large Images for that
Trail.
Sir Walter Scott visited the Cave in 1814,
with him having to Climb over the Wall, using
that visit as inspiration for his Poem, The
Lord of the Isles, about a Mermaid bathing in a
Pool in the Cave.
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