Hiking to the Old Man of Storr
Ultimate guide
If there was one place we really wanted to visit on our trip to Scotland, it was the Old Man of Storr! Both Mel and I saw so many pictures online that we needed to see it with our own eyes and it was even better than I imagined! This place is so majestic and words can’t describe a place like this. I hope our pictures will tho!
Keep on reading to figure out how to visit (one of) the most beautiful place in Scotland!
You might also like: Ultimate 3 day itinerary to the Isle of Skye
For your information, all these pictures were taken in July 2022.
Table of Contents
Summary
Length
3.9 kilometers
Duration
2 hours
Height difference
320 meters
Difficulty
Easy to medium
What is the Old Man of Storr?
The Old Man of Storr, located on the Isle of Skye, is a large pinnacle rock that sits atop the Trotternish Ridge. It was created by a massive ancient landslide. The Storr can be admired from a great distance due to its size of 50 meters (180 feet). The name is derived due to the outline of the rock as some say there is a resemblance of an old man (I don’t really see it to be honest). The Storr refers to the surrounding stones around the old man.
As there were no logical ways to explain how things arose back in the day, people resorted to legends to clarify the mysterious Storr. The Legend of the Giant is a very short story. There was a giant that fell over and died on the exact spot of the Storr. The only remain that you can see of the giant is his thumb sticking out. Some say that it wasn’t a thumb that was sticking out, but some other body part. I will let your imagination speak for itself..
How to get to the Old Man of Storr?
There is a pretty large car park at the start of the trail, but it can get quite crowdy if you arrive later on. A lot of cars are also parked at the side of the road when the parking is full! That’s how busy it can get. The Isle of Skye is a very pretty island, but it’s not set for the large amount of tourists, so you need to be a bit more flexible when travelling here. Arrive early or late and you will find a parking spot.
A good thing to know is that there is a public toilet available at the parking, for free. And, there is a waste disposal for portable toilets!
By car: You can find the parking lot near the start of the trail. The parking is £3.00 for 3h, £5.00 for 6h and £7 for 12h with a 12h max stay for cars. Motorhomes aren’t permitted and there is a height barrier preventing to enter.
With public transport: There is a bus that goes from Portree all the way to the car park of the Old Man of Storr. It only takes 15 minutes. For timetables, click here.
When is the best time to visit the Old Man of Storr?
The Old Man of Storr is a year round destination, as I saw pictures of the Storr online when it snowed and it’s also magnificent. But I still would recommend to go when the days are getting warmer and the chances of rain is a bit less. I feel like the hiking path in the winter isn’t also as safe as it is in the summer months, so you need to come prepared!
We were there in the middle of July and right in the middle of the high season and still, we had quite some luck while visiting the Old Man of Storr. As we wanted to be there at sunrise, we started our hike very early. There were no clouds or anything and it was perfect, but as noon arrived and we went down, there was a big mist covering the Storr. We knew some people who went later in the afternoon and didn’t see anything the whole time.
So, even though it is winter or summer, you still need to be lucky with the weather in Scotland and it’s best to be flexible and chance your itinerary if the weather doesn’t allow it to see the Storr.
If you can, visit the Old Man of Storr as early as possible! We started our hike 1h before the sunrise and we only shared this spot with 4 other people instead of the hundreds we saw in the afternoon on our way back! Also, the earlier you go, the more chance you have for a parking spot.
How to reach the Old Man of Storr?
To get to the Old Man of Storr, you just need to follow the well-marked path all the way to the top! It’s that easy! Apparantly, the path was through a forest and you couldn’t see the Storr most of the time of the hike, but now the whole forest is cut down and you can see the Storr from the beginning to the end.
The first part of the trail is continouisly uphill which makes the hike a bit tiresome at the beginning. Once you’ll reach a gate, the hike is flat for a little while. This is the best part to rest a bit, before it’s only stairs until the very top!
The hike was pretty doable, even though only going uphill can be very tiresome. The hike is, one way and back, around 3.9km and ends at the starting point. We went to the top in less that 1h and down in 30min, which was easy as it was only going downhill. You need to calculate around 2h for your visit (fun fact: we stayed a total of 6h, because we were to busy trying to capture every angle of this place!).
Some tips to photograph the Old Man of Storr
As the Old Man of Storr is pretty huge, the best tip I can give is to explore the whole area! Like I said before, we spend around 6 hours exploring the location and didn’t get bored. We always found something new to explore and take pictures of. This place is just so photogenetic.
There are a few places you definitly can’t miss while being here! My most favorite was between those rocks (or next to the thumb of the giant). It was such a thrilling experience getting on top as the path is pretty steep and there is a lot of loose gravel! One tip, take the left side (when arriving, take the left side of the trail) of the Storr to get up. It’s much easier than the right side, which I took. You also get such an unique view of the landscape so don’t skip this one. Just make sure you can get up safely!
Having a drone is a dream in this location, but I understand when you don’t have one. But there is a possibility to take pictures with your camera/phone just like a drone. It’s not totally the same, but you will still get a very nice view over the whole valley. You need to step a bit further away from the Old Man of Storr. There is a well-marked trail you can follow away from the Storr, seen in the picture below.
Other things to do near the Old Man of Storr
There are a lot of different thing to do in the Isle of Skye, but another one of my favorite thing was the Needle. It has a similar feeling as the Old Man of Storr, but with less people! Make sure you also do this hike when visiting the Isle of Skye!
Scotland has many more things to offer than the Isle of Skye! It’s the perfect base to visit the Glencoe region, the Glenfinnan viaduct closeby Fort William or drive all the way to the north to visit the more quiet parts of Scotland!
Read about these places in the other blog posts for more inspiration:
- Top things to see in the Glencoe region (coming soon)
- Ultimate guide to visit Glenfinnan viaduct
- 5 must see places in the north of Scotland (coming soon)
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Hello, I’m Ellen and welcome to this blog! I’m in love with exploring the world and hopefully I get to inspire you with these blog posts and pictures to feel the same. You will find detailed itineraries, hidden gems, tips and so much more!
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