Recently we took a trip to Loch na Fideil crag. Legend has it that the Fideil was some kind of monster that lived in the loch and would drag its victims into the loch and drown them before devouring them. Thankfully we didn’t meet this beast on our trip but we did however find a gem of a gem. A really friendly and well bolted crag hidden up behind Loch Maree in the North West Highlands.
Torridon sandstone has to be one of the nicest rock types to climb on and also look an orangey red sandstone that feels a bit like gritstone to climb on.
As you approach the crag the first buttress you get to is a nice short slab with four routes on it which makes for a good intro to the crag before moving over to the longer routes on the buttresses running down to the loch edge. Indeed a couple of routes start from a small ledge right above the waters edge.
The routes are in the majority from grade 4 through to the mid 6’s with a really good amount around 5 to 6b. Friendly bolting and clips for the lower offs. The routes don’t exceed about 22 metres so a 50 meter rope is sufficient for the crag. The walk in is about fifteen minutes to the lovely location, its a bit of a drive from Inverness at about and hour and a half following the road to Kinlochewe and then par way down Loch Marree.
We had a great day checking this out n a sunny autumn day. There was only one other pair there and I should think on most days you will probably have the crag to yourself.
For some info you can have a look at the UKC crag page for it which has all the route info and approach info along with a couple of topos. We worth a visit.
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