Walking & Trails on Jura

From Bothan Jura Retreat at Knockrome, you're four miles north of Craighouse along Small Isles Bay. Corran Sands is a short walk south. The Corran River runs past the bottom of the site and it's a beautiful gentle walk, flat and good for dogs.

The OS Explorer 355 (Jura & Scarba) is invaluable for navigating the Jura terrain, and it pays if you can read a compass. We've left one in the huts, but it's useful to have your own if you want to explore the island properly. There are no waymarked paths here, and half the best walks aren't on any map anyway. And if you want to get out further into the wilds with a local, book a day out with Grant Rozga at Jura Guided - he knows every glen and burn on the island.

Stalking season runs August to February. The deer estates manage the herd and there are stalkers active in the hills. It's not a problem - just check with the estates before heading off-road. We have all the contact numbers, or they're on isleofjura.scot.

The Paps dominate everything here. You see them from the huts, from the hot tub, from the road, from Islay. Three peaks - Beinn an Oir (Mountain of Gold, 785m), Beinn Shiantaidh (Sacred Mountain, 757m), and Beinn a' Chaolais (Mountain of the Sound, 734m). They look close. They're not easy.

Climbing all three in a day is a serious proposition. You're looking at 6-8 hours, 16 miles, and 7,500 feet of climbing over steep quartzite scree with no path for much of it. The Jura Fell Race covers the same route in May - the men's record is 3 hours 6 minutes. That should tell you something.

You don't have to do all three. Beinn an Oir alone is a full day's walk and the views from the summit are worth every step - Mull, Colonsay, Kintyre, Arran, Ben Lomond, and on a clear day, Northern Ireland. It's one of those summit moments where you just stand there and turn slowly.

Start early. Tell us where you're going. Proper boots, waterproofs, food, water, map. The weather changes up there in minutes - we've seen guests set off in sunshine and come back soaked. Go prepared.

Not everything here requires boots and a rucksack. Some of our favourite walks are five minutes from the door.

Corran Sands - walk south from the retreat. Wee Corran on the Craighouse side has a picnic table. Big Corran is a huge sweep of golden sand with the Paps behind you and the sea ahead. We've found ourselves down there at every hour of the day - the light changes completely.

The Corran River - follow it from the bottom of our site. Flat, gentle, good for the dog. Watch for dippers and grey wagtails. The children learned to build dams here.

Craighouse along the coast - four miles south along Small Isles Bay. Flat road, sea on one side. We do this when we want to end up at The Antlers for coffee or the Jura Hotel for a pint. It's a good walk - enough to feel like you've earned it, not so much that you're shattered.

Lowlandman's Bay - this is where the seals are. Grey seals hauled out on the rocks. Bring binoculars and sit quietly for a bit.

Ardfarnal - the secret beaches. Up from Knockrome to the crest, then along the ridge until you can drop down the far side. Two turquoise beaches facing each other, crystal clear, with rocks to climb everywhere. Ardfarnal Trig Point is up on the crest - an easy climb and a spectacular viewpoint.

The west coast of Jura is entirely uninhabited. No road, no buildings, no people. The raised beaches are among the finest in Scotland - ancient platforms of cobbles and storm-thrown boulders that look like they belong on another planet.

Three bothies offer basic shelter: Glengarrisdale, Cruib Lodge, and Ruantallain. Single room, fireplace, no electricity, no running water, no bedding. First-come, first-served - you don't book, you just arrive and hope nobody else got there first. We've stayed in them and they're brilliant, but don't expect anything remotely resembling our huts. These are stone shelters with a fireplace and a floor. Bring everything - sleeping bag, food, water, headtorch, firelighters.

Glenbatrick Bay, at the head of Loch Tarbert, is reached by Evan's Walk - probably the only named walk on Jura. It climbs over the saddle of Corra Bheinn and follows the river down to the bay. Allow three hours each way. There is a good path in places and none at all in others, steep in parts, rough underfoot. Secluded when you get there, with rugged cliffs and a mix of sand and pebbles.

There is no road in and no path once you leave the east side, so you cross on deer tracks and Argo tracks and navigate for yourself. Tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back. Tell us. We keep an eye on the weather and we'll worry about you if you're not back when you said you'd be - and that's not a bad thing!

The road up the east coast runs out at Lealt. Beyond that the track to Barnhill is a private road with a chain and a padlock across it, and there is nowhere to turn a car round - drive up it and you are reversing the whole way back. So the north end is walked. Park at the quarry car park and it is four miles on foot to Barnhill, seven to the tip of the island.

George Orwell wrote 1984 at Barnhill. It is at the north end, on the east coast, above Ardlussa and Lealt, looking out over the Sound of Jura. He nearly drowned in the Corryvreckan during his time here.

He came in 1946 to get away from London journalism and the noise around Animal Farm, and the remoteness he called “an extremely un-getatable place” was the reason he chose it. Both drafts of 1984 were written at Barnhill, the second of them from his bed, after tuberculosis was diagnosed here in 1947. The house was damp and the winters were long, and neither did his lungs any good.

The Corryvreckan is the third largest whirlpool in the world, in the gulf between Jura and Scarba. Walk the full seven miles and you are standing above it, looking across to Scarba. Or see it from the water with Robert Henry at Jura Boat Tours - he takes the RIB right up to it.