The beach at An Corran is one of the most awe-inspiring and significantly interesting locations on Skye. Its sandy beach and rocky shoreline with stunning views to the Quiraing, the Minch and the Sound of Raasay and dominant dolerite cliff faces make this small part of the Island a wonderful place to spend some time. For those unfamiliar with the antiquity of the location, it is also a place where prehistoric man made a home as far back as the mid-7th millennium BC and dinosaurs roamed 168 million years ago.
Location
From Portree, take the A855 towards Staffin for 17.4 miles. Just after the village of Staffin there is a right hand turn with a small red post box at the turnoff. The road sign is marked “To the beach” and Staffin Slipway. Turn right and follow the signs to the Slipway, after 0.7mile you will reach the car park area on the side of the road and the An Corran information sign on your left.
- Free parking off the road parallel to the beach.
- Not suitable for wheelchairs.
- There are no facilities or toilets at the location.
- Bus: No 57A from Portree. The stop is at the An Corran turnoff.
The Beach
Access to the beach is down a rocky access ramp to the left of the information sign.
The ramp descends onto a sandy beach with cliffs to the left. It may be possible to walk to the bigger Staffin Bay at low tide, otherwise access is via a difficult scramble over the rocks.
This is an area where seals and dolphins are regularly spotted and the views from the beach are stunning. Overhanging basalt cliffs dominate the southern skyline. To the west, the views over Staffin Bay are fringed by the spectacular geographical rock formations of the Quiraing, while views across the Sound of Raasay to the Torridon Hills and Gairloch are complimented by Eilean Steinnseal and Eilean Fhlòdaigearraidh in the foreground. The cliffs of Garrafad towards Kilt Rock sweep down to the sea to the east.
Just across the water is the uninhabited Staffin Island. Here, until recently, cattle were driven to swim across the short strait to graze on the island. The ruins of an old salmon netting station still stands. Fishermen would stay in the bothy during the summer and net around 2,500 fish each season.
The remainder of the location to the end of the Staffin Slipway is marked by a rocky shoreline and a great place to look for fossils and dinosaur prints.
A word of caution: the rocks can get very slippery in winter and wet weather and watch out for grazing animals crossing the road.
Dinosaur Footprints
An Corran is part of the sedimentary Duntulm formation, a geological formation of the Bathonian stage of the Mid-Jurassic period noted for its rich palaeobiodiversity and for preserving a wide variety of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils.
In 2002, the world’s eye turned towards An Corran when a local woman, out walking her dog, found what looked like a set of footprints in a recently exposed block of rock. The prints were uncovered when a storm removed the top layer of ancient mud. Excitement grew when the prints were found to be those of a three-toed carnivorous Megalosaurus, a fierce predatory dinosaur of the Mid-Jurassic period that roamed the shallow lagoons over 168 million years ago.
The dinosaur footprints at An Corrann are just one of many finds on the Isle of Skye. Check out the full details of Jurassic Skye where all significant finds are noted.
The best time to find the footprints are during mid to low tide. They are often submerged at high tide or hidden by water and seaweed, so finding them can be difficult, especially when most of them are not obvious to the untrained eye.
From the bottom of the access ramp, there is an area of flat rock in line with a series of boulders and running parallel to the road. The prints can be found in the flat rock shelf.
Early Man
In the winter of 1993, the rock ledges above the beach were excavated by archaeologists as part of a salvage investigation in advance of new roadworks. The site was found to contain important evidence of Iron Age communities dating back as far as the Late Upper Palaeolithic period. Evidence of human-made hearths and fires were discovered in the upper levels while a large Mesolithic midden (a domestic waste dump) was found in a rock shelter by an outcrop of baked mudstone. This contained a wealth of animal bones (including some belonging to Neolithic humans), shellfish and lithic tools. The site, however, was destroyed during the building of the road and is now buried under the rockfall.
Staffin Slipway
At the far end of the bay is an area called Òb nan Ròn (Bay of Seals). This is the site of Staffin Slipway. When the original structure was built in the early 1900s, the new jetty with its permanent storehouses eased the disadvantage of having to haul supplies across land to the nearest road. The ability to deliver goods and supplies by sea had an enormous positive impact on the local communities. The slipway was rebuilt in 2000 by the Staffin Community Trust and opened in June 2000. The area is a popular place for anglers, especially of pollock and mackerel, and 90-minute boat tours from the slipway are run between April and October.
The Walk
A 2.5-mile walk from Staffin Slipway that follows a loop route via Staffin and An Corran.
From Òb nan Ròn (top of the slipway), the path rises sharply to its highest point Cadha Riabhach (the Brindled Pass). On the way there is plenty to explore, including chambered cairns, Norse ruins and the ruined township of Garafad, abandoned during the Highland Clearances. The path sweeps down into Staffin where walkers can enjoy refreshments at Columba 1400 (open all year) and The Hungry Gull adjacent to Staffin Stores (April to October) before heading off along the road to return to the Slipway.