A wild freshwater loch hemmed in by the black peaks of the Cuillin, reached only by boat from Elgol or a long rough walk
Loch Coruisk is about as hemmed-in as a loch gets. It lies in a deep bowl right under the main ridge of the Black Cuillin, the roughest mountains on Skye, with bare rock rising steeply on almost every side and only a short river separating it from the sea at Loch Scavaig. There are no roads anywhere near. Turner painted it and Walter Scott put it into verse, both drawn by how bleak and shut-off the place feels.
Most visitors arrive by boat. Small passenger boats run from Elgol across the bay in season and drop you ashore for an hour or two; the local operators are listed under Elgol boat trips. You can also walk in, but neither route is casual. The path from Elgol by Camasunary crosses the Bad Step, an exposed slab of rock above the water that you have to scramble over, and the going elsewhere is rough and pathless in places. Sgurr na Stri, the low hill on the seaward side, gives the classic view down over the loch and the ridge.
This is serious mountain country with no shelter and little phone signal, so check the boat times and the forecast before you set out, and give yourself far longer than the distance suggests. Even reaching the shore and getting back is a proper day out.
