Hiking up Goatfell on Arran, Scotland by Motorhome

When doing our usual modicum of research, we’d come across the famous hike up Goatfell. An 874m high mountain which is the highest point of the island of Arran. Goatfell isn’t one of Scotland’s Munros by the way, as it’s less than 914m high, but it felt pretty high on our aching thighs today! Being between 2000 and 3000 feet, it’s classed as a Corbett. Which makes me think of Ronnie Corbett. Although he was only just over 5 foot tall and you’d need at least 400 Ronnies stacked up to make the grade.

The 7.2 mile hike took us just over 4 hours of walking, plus another hour of sitting around absorbing the scenery. We started it from the Mountain Rescue car park outside Brodick, where we slept last night in our motorhome. As we set out our neighbours Shena and Andy were busy getting their tandem ready for a ride the 50-odd mile perimeter road around the island.

The path starts on the other side of the road past some craft workshops and a small brewery and then on into the woods. It also passes entrances to Brodick Castle grounds on the way up, so if Scottish National Trust places light your candle you’re in luck. The route is well signed on the lower sections, and higher up you can’t really go wrong (at least not in good weather). There is pretty much only one route, and it heads relentlessly upwards.

Great swathes of trees had been cut down (some having burned in a wild fire first judging from their charcoaled stumps), as part of the ongoing managed forests here. This explained the huge stash of logs lying by the quayside both here and back in Troon when we left yesterday.

Once you’re through the trees the path cuts through moorland and heather, with the peak of Goatfell standing ominously in the distance. I say ‘ominously’ as there is no discernible route up through the jumble of boulders clinging to the steep heights. I’m no mountain goat and although I’m fine with rocky trails, scrambling with my hands isn’t my thing (I’m fearful of falling).

Turns out not to be a problem. Although it’s hard going, the route is effectively an endless series of uneven-height steps. Praise be to whoever put them there, that must have been a mighty task. Although we used our hands to steady ourselves a few times, there was no scrambling or sheer drops.

It’s early May at the moment, but the weather is being very benign indeed. We’ve seen 20-odd degrees today. The sky was a little confused as to what it should do though, starting out clear, clouding over as we summited and drizzling a bit on the way down before switching back to full sun. We were glad of our coats when we reached the top, as the wind was cutting across at a decent lick.

The views back down over Brodick and the south of Arran were fantastic. But the real show exploded in a blaze of glory as we dragged ourselves up the final few rock steps to the top. Arran’s mountains are spread across the north of the island and BOOM!, there they were laid out below us. Quite a vista as we at our sandwiches, hiding from the wind behind the stone base for a metal map plaque.

On the way up we saw only a handful of folks of various nationalities. The couple staying in the pop-top in ‘our’ car park started out at 7:30am and we saw them towards the upper stretches as they came down. The lass (I never asked her name, remiss of me) is 69 and was going great guns. I told her so and she shrugged it off: “I’m been climbing mountains my whole life”. It showed too, very impressive.

We saw less than ten people on the way up and at the summit. On the way down it was busier, but nothing much really. Everyone was friendly and offered encouragement and a few jokey comments. Except for a young guy with the mullet and his missus who were heavily involved in some impenetrable discussion, quite impressive given the apparent lack of oxygen we had experienced on the way up! Compared with hikes like Snowdon, the path was all-but empty.

One thing we didn’t spot was wildlife. Word is there are a bunch of feral goats up there but they were keeping a low profile. We passed a high fence at one point. No idea what it’s there to keep in or out, as we didn’t see it. No obvious prey birds, no deer, no goats, nowt. The mountain and sea views were enough for us.

The hike back down over endless rock steps seemed to take an age. Ju’s knee ached, as did my right heel. We were relieved to get back to the van, finding the car park had filled up with cars and a few more motorhomes. A coffee or two revived me enough for a stumble over to the beach to enjoy the sunshine.

Our plan is to pop another donation in the box and stay here another night. We’ve called the Seal Shore Campsite to the south of Arran to see if they could fit us in, but they’re fully booked for a week. So that’s a no-no as we’ll probably be off the island by then. It seems Arran isn’t as quiet as we’d hoped!

There are a few more free parking spots we’ll check out tomorrow, popping into one of the island’s service points to empty the loo on the way – several local communities have put them in which makes us feel very welcome. After that we’ll maybe try one of the other campsites before leaving the island and heading over to the Kintyre Peninsula.

So, we have a plan for once, rejoice! :-) Ju is currently cooking up tea and we’re looking forward to another quiet night in this fabulous facility. Many thanks to the Mountain Rescue guys (or whoever owns the place) for allowing us to stay.

Cheers, Jay