TERRAIN: Graded Moderate. A mix of paved surfaces, gravel, grass, narrow rocky hillside trails, and bracken (in summer) . One section where the path has eroded and a wire handrail has been placed to assist walkers. One set of steps near the end. Fairly flat for first half then undulating with a steep descent at the end. Lots of gates along the route and possibility of both sheep and cows.
From the ferry terminal at Rothesay take bus number 490 to Kilchattan Bay. If driving there are a few parking spaces at the old pier, or on-street.
There is a public toilet at Kilchattan Bay beside the old pier
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Walk SE along the main street in Kilchattan Bay with the water on your left-hand-side. At the very end of the road, at the bus turning area, look out for a large sandstone boulder marking the official start point of the West Island Way.
Continue along a gravel track at the base of the sea cliffs. The going becomes increasingly rough as you make your way along the coast towards Rubh’ an Eun lighthouse at the south-eastern tip of the Isle of Bute.
Follow the footpath around Glencallum Bay and onto the first uphill section, with the Isle of Arran soon coming into view in spectacular style!
The trail then continues on high ground around the southern end of Bute before turning inland at Loch na Leighe.
After passing Loch na Leighe on your right-hand-side, turn right to by-pass The Plan farm. After crossing a wooden footbridge look out for a turning on your left, uphill through some bracken and then along a dry stone wall to a gate. Enjoy the views to Arran on a clear day!
Once through the gate turn right across the field, heading towards some ruins visible ahead: St Blane’s Church. Access to the ruins is around the far (northern) side, from where you can pick up the continuation of the walk through a gap in the wall.
The way-marked route takes you along the edge of a field to a gate, then right to reach a a gully. Turn left in the gully, initially uphill and then down the edge of a field with views to a stunning sandy bay below.
After several gates and field crossings, you will begin a steep ascent towards Suidhe Chatain, skirting around the southern side of it, emerging at a large stock gate, from where you might enjoy fantastic views across to the mainland if the weather is in your favour.
A steep descent down the hillside and through a small patch of woodland leads you to some steps and then onto the main road in Kilchattan Bay where you started.
Walk Report: 22nd June 2025
I’d never been to the Isle of Bute, or so I thought. Mum tells me I was there when I was about 10, but I have no recollection of it. So I was super excited to be heading there with a fantastic group of walking friends to start the West Island Way.
We’ve all walked the Ayrshire Coastal Path together, finishing at Wemyss Bay where the ferry sails from. So it seemed fitting that we were all back there today off on another adventure.
Transport went like clockwork, with the ferry leaving on time and the bus waiting for us at the other side to deliver us to Kilchattan Bay. After what felt like quite the journey already, we had finally arrived at the start point of our walk. It was pouring, exactly as forecast! So after a small delay whilst people pulled on waterproofs, and then another small delay whilst people used the public loo, we were off!
I’d read a few things about this walk in advance: there was to be a rough bit near the start which would be the trickiest part of the whole Way; the walk we were doing today would be the most beautiful of the Way; that we could look forward to fantastic views; and a highlight would be the ruins of St Blane’s Church. I knew there was a lighthouse, that the walk was around 5 miles, and that it would start off flat before heading gradually up and up and up, before a final steep descent.
All of that turned out to be true. Apart from it being the most beautiful section of the West Island Way: I’ll reserve judgement on that until I’ve walked it all!
The rough bit was a bit rougher than I’d anticipated. I certainly hadn’t expected to be putting my trust in a length of wire rope pegged into the ground. How exciting! I’m not sure my walking buddies shared in my excitement 😉 However it held the weight of all 17 of us (not at the same time I’ll add) and I certainly wouldn’t fancy trying to get along that short stretch without it. I’ve since read that this is a fairly new addition due to the path below eroding into the sea. And there is ample warning given in advance via some cautionary signage.
Speaking of signage, the team has done a brilliant job on the way-marking. We did encounter several sections of very high Bracken on our visit. Nothing that would stop us, it probably slowed us down a bit though as it was tricky to see what was underfoot. And at least one of our group came home with a tick, with the Bracken being blamed! I understand that the route is cared for by volunteers from the Bute Conservation Trust. They post regularly on the West Island Way Facebook page if you’re interested in staying up to date on work being done.
One of the highlights of this walk are the views. Spending so much time on the Ayrshire Coast as I do, it felt so strange being on the other side! It took me a while to get my bearings. I felt a strange mix of comfortably familiar, yet at the same time intriguingly unfamiliar.
Wee Cumbrae Island from a never-before-seen angle….
Millport….. oh wait, no, that can’t be Millport because it would be tucked into that bay and out of sight, so where is that? Oh it’s the caravan park on the south-western tip of Cumbrae!
Largs and Knock Hill where some of us had been last month on the final section of the Ayrshire Coastal Path to Skelmorlie. It looked a long way to Skelmorlie from Knock Hill at this angle!
And then Arran came into view…. just WOW! That mountain ridge is something else seen from here! With Holy Isle to the far left, that meant Goatfell was also the peak furthest left: very unusual for me as I pretty much always see Goatfell on the right of the range from the mainland! I realised what I was looking at was the view I was familiar with from visits to Sannox, where I’d spent many a childhood summer holiday. But today I was seeing that same view from a distance away, a whole new perspective. It got me thinking…. all those days I spent on the rocks at Sannox Beach thinking I was looking onto the mainland, was I in fact looking over to here: the southern tip of Bute?! Probably some of the time, yes.
Just when we thought we’d seen it all, we reached the highest point on the walk, which incidentally is quite near the end! We were standing directly above where we’d been earlier in the day, and that height gave us a whole new outlook. Not only could we see that fantastic never-before-seen view of Little Cumbrae Island and (not) Millport, but from this higher ground we could also see over the top of all that, with Hunterston Power Station stealing the limelight! To most people it would be an ugly industrial sight, but to us it brought back memories of the day when we walked the Portencross to Largs section of the Ayrshire Coastal Path, which passes right in front of Hunterston.
And there were the views to places I couldn’t name – refreshing for someone who spends so much time walking in the same places all the time! One example is the sandy beach which comes into view on approach to Suidhe Chatain: I spent a while looking at the map trying to figure out if it would be Dunagoil Bay, or Lubas Bay, or Stravanan Bay… I’m still not sure. My best guess is Stravanan, which if true is quite exciting as we’ll be there on a future walk!
Another example is turning the corner after an uphill stint, to be welcomed by Loch na Leighe down beneath us. I knew to expect a loch – I’d been following a map – but I didn’t know it would be that pretty 🙂
Amongst the other memories which will stay with me from this walk are the 70th birthday celebrations held overlooking the lighthouse: the Happy Birthday song…. three boxes of Mr Kipling French Fancies displayed lovingly on a rock….. one candle which I couldn’t light….. the look on Morag’s face 🙂 Special moments to be treasured.
We’d decided to have lunch at that spot, and whilst a few of us walked out to the lighthouse for a closer look first, the rest had started eating. My mum was last to arrive for lunch and I’d joked to everyone that when she got there we should all get up as though were were ready to leave. They thought I was a meanie of course, but I said it wouldn’t worry her, she would simply reply (in a sarcastic tone) “Aye well, you go ahead!”. When she arrived I announced, “Right are we all ready to go?” and her reply, right on cue, and in the exact tone I’d jested, Aye well you go ahead! A roar of laughter lit up our wee corner of Bute 😀
