What a difference a path makes and what a difference a well-made path makes. Whether you are a stalker, a walker or a film star the only way up or around Suilven is on your own two legs and you’ll know it by the time you get back to base - every joint will be reminding you of your effort. Your journey will be so worth it as every step takes you through different types of flowering vegetation from the blanket bog, dwarf shrub heath and up to the alpine zone. At the top, your thoughts are your own as you take in the vast views and fill your lungs with the freshest of air. In the last few years this experience has become even more pleasurable with the repair and in places the construction of a good stone path up to the saddle.
ACT Heritage and Arran Footpaths did all the very hard work. It starts where the lower approach to Suilven leaves the main through route from Lochinver to Elphin. It was managed by Chris Goodman of the John Muir Trust on behalf of the Assynt Foundation, with funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Outdoor Conservation Organisation, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Mountaineering Trust and the John Muir Trust. This 2-year (2017 & 2018) project was run by the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape partnership.
The Assynt Foundation is extremely grateful for all those involved in the path project and AF is committed to keeping the path in good repair for the next ten years and beyond. Please do let us know of any interesting wildlife that you come across. The path has been constructed so that fragile habitats will be consolidated and can recover from walking boot erosion. In one place 30m of the trampled bog will recover because of the new path. You can help by sticking to the path and clearing the odd blocked cross-drain. Any helpful comments can be noted in the book in the Honesty Shop behind Glencanisp Lodge.
This project has been an inspiring example of organisations working together for the common good. We hope you really enjoy your day on the hill and help us look after this beautiful landscape. This is just one of the projects we are involved in to restore the health of the land. It will take a long time and this project enables many to get right into the heart of it.
Information on the path project can be seen on
www.coigach-assynt.org/suilvenpath/
You can see photos of the work on
www.flickr.com/groups/suilvenpath