"A walk through Mull's basalt landscape to the ancient fort of Dun Bhuirg."
Walk directions
To reach the walk start, turn off the B8035 at Kilfinichen Bay, following a blue sign for Burg. The road passes just below the hightide mark and, after Tiroran farm, becomes a rough track to the car park. The track leads on into a wood of beech and larch, then climbs gently. Ignore a branch down to the left (to Scobull), but follow the main track climbing to open bracken moor. Pass below a mobile phone mast, with four cairns below the track.
The track descends in bends and runs on towards Tavool House. This used to be a YMCA property but is now an outdoor centre. Just before Tavool House, fork down left below a wall with rhododendrons. The track descends into a wooded valley, crossing two streams, one with a small waterfall.
At a gate the track enters National Trust for Scotland (NTS) land. Burg Farm was one of the Trust's first properties, bequeathed in 1932. Bear left on a rough grassy track to pass just below the tin-walled farm. A small bothy is on the left and, behind it, a knoll with two cairns, commemorating Duncan and Christina MacGillivray, better known by the surname Burg, from the farm.
After 0.5 miles (800m) is Dun Bhuirg, a second knoll on the left, with a cairn. It commemorates a lass called Daisy Cheape and her favourite place, which she called 'Castle Dare'. About 50yds (46m) above the dun, a crag overhang offers shelter and a fine view and, just to the left, is a cave, suitable only for sheep. A gap between the cave and the overhang leads through to a little rock den. The narrow, cow-trodden path continues past the dun through a kissing gate, descending gently for 0.25 miles (400m) to the narrow shoreline meadow.
The main walk now turns back along the shoreline to pass below Dun Bhuirg. The way is grassy at first, then rougher with some boulders and bog, and leads to a small bay of black sand. Cross shoreline rocks to a second black beach, directly below Burg farm. Just above the bay are two ancient cairns, almost lost under bracken. After the second of them, follow the shoreline fence for 200yds (183m) to a gate in it. Slant up through a gap in a fallen wall to rejoin the track above. Retrace the outward journey past Tavool House to the start of the walk.
As the earth's surface stretched with the opening of the Atlantic 60 million years ago, four huge volcanoes poured black basalt lava out across the edge of Scotland. Three of them were on Skye, Rum and Ardnamurchan. The largest of them all was on Mull: some of its dark lava was squeezed in... geological dykes right into the north of England. It comes in columns Cooling lava shrinks; when basalt lava pools and comes to rest it can crack apart in a striking and regular way. Strange hexagonal columns, jammed side to side, cannot be natural and are taken to be built by superhuman beings. So we have Fingal's Cave, the Giant's causeway, or the Devil's Postpile in California. Rock formations as striking as any of these can be seen by continuing along the shore beyond the turning point of this walk: as well as Scotland's largest fossil. But even on the main route, such 'columnar basalt' gives evidence of lava flows and red-hot lakes such as we see today in Iceland. When you pass the phone mast on the outward route, in another 200yds (183m) the cutting above the road shows quite well-formed basalt columns. At the foot of the zig-zag descent and before Tavool, a waterfall above the track bridge hides similar basalt, with the top of each stubby column forming a step for the falling water. As you descend below Tavool House to the first stream crossing, the track cutting has a brownish-black crumbly layer between two lava flows. This is a fossil soil layer, a 2ft (60cm) layer of soil formed above the lower lava-flow before being buried and baked by a later one. After Dun Bhuirg, as the path descends a steep slope to the shore and the walk's turning point, a cluster of slender columns shows two lava flows immediately above. Here the basalt has cooled and started forming columns, but then been shoved into movement again, so that the columns have a sculptural bend in them. Fossil tree From the turning point of this walk, it's a tough shoreline path to the fossil tree. It passes above and below some striking rock formations, but is very rugged, leading to the descent of a steep iron ladder. (This section leading down to the ladder is steep, and requires care, especially when wet.) You then continue along the bouldery foreshore for about 0.25 miles (400m). The fossil tree has a cave to its right, and some contorted basalt columns on its left. The tree itself is absent; what remains is the shape of it, as it was engulfed in a lava flow. (And yes, the space where something once was also counts as a fossil.) Look for a hollow half-cylinder about 4ft (1.2m) wide, starting just above ground level. Â
"A walk through Mull's basalt landscape to the ancient fort of Dun Bhuirg."
Walk details
4hrs 15min
Difficulty:
Easy
Gradient:
Moderate
Distance:
8.25 miles (13.3kms)
Ascent:
1200ft (366m)
Walk directions
To reach the walk start, turn off the B8035 at Kilfinichen Bay, following a blue sign for Burg. The road passes just below the hightide mark and, after Tiroran farm, becomes a rough track to the car park. The track leads on into a wood of beech and larch, then climbs gently. Ignore a branch down to the left (to Scobull), but follow the main track climbing to open bracken moor. Pass below a mobile phone mast, with four cairns below the track.
1 of 5
The track descends in bends and runs on towards Tavool House. This used to be a YMCA property but is now an outdoor centre. Just before Tavool House, fork down left below a wall with rhododendrons. The track descends into a wooded valley, crossing two streams, one with a small waterfall.
2 of 5
At a gate the track enters National Trust for Scotland (NTS) land. Burg Farm was one of the Trust's first properties, bequeathed in 1932. Bear left on a rough grassy track to pass just below the tin-walled farm. A small bothy is on the left and, behind it, a knoll with two cairns, commemorating Duncan and Christina MacGillivray, better known by the surname Burg, from the farm.
3 of 5
After 0.5 miles (800m) is Dun Bhuirg, a second knoll on the left, with a cairn. It commemorates a lass called Daisy Cheape and her favourite place, which she called 'Castle Dare'. About 50yds (46m) above the dun, a crag overhang offers shelter and a fine view and, just to the left, is a cave, suitable only for sheep. A gap between the cave and the overhang leads through to a little rock den. The narrow, cow-trodden path continues past the dun through a kissing gate, descending gently for 0.25 miles (400m) to the narrow shoreline meadow.
4 of 5
The main walk now turns back along the shoreline to pass below Dun Bhuirg. The way is grassy at first, then rougher with some boulders and bog, and leads to a small bay of black sand. Cross shoreline rocks to a second black beach, directly below Burg farm. Just above the bay are two ancient cairns, almost lost under bracken. After the second of them, follow the shoreline fence for 200yds (183m) to a gate in it. Slant up through a gap in a fallen wall to rejoin the track above. Retrace the outward journey past Tavool House to the start of the walk.
As the earth's surface stretched with the opening of the Atlantic 60 million years ago, four huge volcanoes poured black basalt lava out across the edge of Scotland. Three of them were on Skye, Rum and Ardnamurchan. The largest of them all was on Mull: some of its dark lava was squeezed in... geological dykes right into the north of England. It comes in columns Cooling lava shrinks; when basalt lava pools and comes to rest it can crack apart in a striking and regular way. Strange hexagonal columns, jammed side to side, cannot be natural and are taken to be built by superhuman beings. So we have Fingal's Cave, the Giant's causeway, or the Devil's Postpile in California. Rock formations as striking as any of these can be seen by continuing along the shore beyond the turning point of this walk: as well as Scotland's largest fossil. But even on the main route, such 'columnar basalt' gives evidence of lava flows and red-hot lakes such as we see today in Iceland. When you pass the phone mast on the outward route, in another 200yds (183m) the cutting above the road shows quite well-formed basalt columns. At the foot of the zig-zag descent and before Tavool, a waterfall above the track bridge hides similar basalt, with the top of each stubby column forming a step for the falling water. As you descend below Tavool House to the first stream crossing, the track cutting has a brownish-black crumbly layer between two lava flows. This is a fossil soil layer, a 2ft (60cm) layer of soil formed above the lower lava-flow before being buried and baked by a later one. After Dun Bhuirg, as the path descends a steep slope to the shore and the walk's turning point, a cluster of slender columns shows two lava flows immediately above. Here the basalt has cooled and started forming columns, but then been shoved into movement again, so that the columns have a sculptural bend in them. Fossil tree From the turning point of this walk, it's a tough shoreline path to the fossil tree. It passes above and below some striking rock formations, but is very rugged, leading to the descent of a steep iron ladder. (This section leading down to the ladder is steep, and requires care, especially when wet.) You then continue along the bouldery foreshore for about 0.25 miles (400m). The fossil tree has a cave to its right, and some contorted basalt columns on its left. The tree itself is absent; what remains is the shape of it, as it was engulfed in a lava flow. (And yes, the space where something once was also counts as a fossil.) Look for a hollow half-cylinder about 4ft (1.2m) wide, starting just above ground level. Â
