Shenavall Bothy with the Mountains of the Fisherfield Forest behind © Alistair Humphries
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May 2019, and the Scottish trip was going well. For the second year running, we had picked some of the many bothies in the Highlands as a hook to hang a walk on, and Ryvoan, Duror and Craig bothies had all been great choices. The one I really wanted to visit though was Shenavall – even the name hinted of great things to come, but the classic photo of Shenavall with the mountains of Fisherfield Forest as a background made it a ‘must do’ trip.
Wester Ross and the North-West Highlands
Wester Ross with the route to Shenavall Bothy
Closer view of the route to Shenavall from Dundonnell
The land between Gairloch, Dundonnell, Gruinard Bay and Kinlochewe is often referred to as ‘The Great Wilderness’ and no wonder. The A832 road skirts most of the area, but that’s the only road you will see – the interior has a network of ancient tracks left by stalkers, drovers and more recently hikers and mountaineers, but if you had to pick one word to sum it all up, it would be ‘remote’.
Setting out from the road with the peaks of An Teallach peeping out
Walking through the woodlands of Gleann Chaorachain
Better view of An Teallach now, looking to the northwest
The highest point of the walk in to Shenavall just above Loch Coire Chaorachain
Chris and I (plus Border Collie ‘Mist’ of course) had decided on a bit of a wander into one small corner of The Great Wilderness. The name doesn’t convey the magnificence of the mountain scenery though, with the peaks of Slioch and the Fisherfield Forest being highlights, but the star of the show (well, for me anyway) was An Teallach. We set off from Coire Hallie near Dundonnell, following the Landrover track to Strath na Sealga, leaving the track at its high point to follow the rough path over the moor.
The view south towards Strath na Sealga
Movement spotted on the moor next to the path ….
…. which turned out to be two riders with pack horses
Better view into the head of Strath na Sealga, with a green oasis central in the image
The path was easy to navigate, though a bit rough and boggy in places. By now we had traded the view of the magnificent An Teallach for a less interesting bit of moorland, with a distant view of the head of the valley of Strath na Sealga. Then I detected movement across the moor – it was two riders, each leading a packhorse. For a moment we could have been transported back a couple of centuries when travel by horse would have been the best option.
Border Collie ‘Mist’ and the view towards the Fisherfield Mountains
Start of the descent down to Shenavall
The Fisherfield Mountains and Loch na Sealga with Shenavall just visible (left and low of centre)
The final part of the descent, Shenavall just low of centre
Chris, happy to get to level ground
Shenavall Bothy ….
…. complete with house name plate!
After a good bit of walking, our path started to descend to Strath na Sealga, gradually at first before becoming steeper on the final section. I was amazed to find hoof prints and fresh horse dung – our riders had obviously taken this route out from Shenavall, pretty heroic stuff in my book. Chris was less impressed by the steepness of the descent but persevered, and we eventually arrived at Shenavall Bothy, in one of the most impressive locations you could wish for.
The main room with fireplace
Another view of the main room ….
…. with a new (temporary) resident
Shenavall was once a home to the MacDonald family, who occupied the house from 1891, with Mr MacDonald employed as a stalker. They had four cows and access to fresh salmon and venison from the estate, augmented by paraffin, meal, sugar and tea conveyed by pony from Dundonnell. A roll of tweed would have been bought from Ullapool every year, with which a travelling tailor would make suits, trousers, skirts and jackets for the whole family. It must have been a hard life, but by the standards of the time, they were comfortably off.
Chris checking out the kitchen
Upstairs sleeping space
Time for a well-earned brew!
All mod-cons?
Shenavall is still owned by the Dundonnell estate but is in the care of the Mountain Bothies Association, who maintain the bothy for ‘free of charge’ use by hikers, climbers and mountaineers. Unfortunately, we were not staying overnight, but with a fire going the place would have been a cosy stopover. After taking a look round it was time for lunch and well-earned brew, with extra dog biscuits for ‘Mist’.
Heading back ….
…. with an interesting weather front forming over An Teallach ….
…. but ‘Mist’ isn’t impressed as it’s getting near to dinner time!
Time to head for home
Then it was time to head back over the moor. The views opened up as we left the confines of the stream flowing down to the bothy, with An Teallach taking centre stage again. We had an extra treat with an interesting looking weather front moving through, but there was still some way to go before we finally reached the campervan on the A832. Moving further up the road for an overnight spot proved to be a great idea – as well as meeting up with our mates Richie and Babs again, we were also treated to yet another spectacular sunset. Days (and nights) in the Scottish Highlands don’t get much better than this!
Yet another fine sunset – looking towards An Teallach
Text and images © Paul Shorrock except where stated.
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 
Nice walk. When I stayed at Shenavall in May 2017 it was astonishingly busy – we were like sardines inside and other hikers were camping all around the building!
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Hi Andrew and thanks for the comment. They do say that Shenavall is one of the busiest bothies, but the only company we had was a bike leaning against the wall and a sighting of someone approaching, about 1km away. I’ll bet it gets busy most nights though.
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Very jealous – I had a great 2 nights at Shenaval when I was Munroing. Managed to find another guy in the bothy to do a couple of the scarier routes with me and then had a walk with my companion the next day. The day I left I was chatting to an incomer who was a prison warder – he was a great guy. We had around 13 people in the bothy the first night.
Love the wi-fi sign – really great. Do you mind if I snatch a copy of it from your post to show my friend?
Really want to go to Ryvoan myself…
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I guessed you would have stayed there for the Fisherfield Munros, so I went back to your older posts just out of interest – thoroughly enjoyed reading about your Shenavall trip. I would have loved to have stayed over, but it wasn’t on Chris’s list of things to do!
Yeah, feel free to copy the wifi sign, in fact feel free to copy any of my pics, though I’ve a feeling that your photo archive is probably bigger than mine. If you want another chuckle moment, zoom in on the image with Chris in the main room – someone has drawn a double 13amp socket on the wall!
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Ha ha – I’ll have another read and zoom in on that photo – hilarious. I always thought the Tarf Hotel’s AA 3-star sign was funny – bothiers are definitely not losing their sense of humour!
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I always forget a bit of comment… great idea to bring pack horses – that’s what I need – I hate carrying a heavy pack and I get on well with horses! Wonder if they hired them?
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It was a great sight and really did look like a trip back through the centuries. I was amazed when I saw the hoof prints up the side of the stream – I’m sure you will remember how steep it is to walk, never mind ride one horse and lead another!
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Good to see the bothy still in a good state of repair
You may see how that is done on youtube
I.E. Shenavall 2012 ( also on youtube see 2013 and 2014 )
Peter Aikman ( former M.O. Shenavall )
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Thanks for the comments Peter, and thanks to you and the other volunteers of the MBA for the hard work that goes into maintaining the bothies.
Of the various bothies I’ve visited over the years, Shenavall is the one I would return to again and again! Hopefully I’ll be back when the current Covid-19 emergency is over.
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How long does it take to walk from the car park to the bothy?
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Hi there. I would allow three hours each way following the route in the post. If you’re fit and not carrying much weight, you could possibly knock 30 mins off that. Get there early for the parking though – at weekends and in summer it soon fills up. Have a great day if you go out there.
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