Shetland Outdoors

You'll need a 10 minute flight from Tingwall airport for a day visit, or the option of a 2 hour ferry from Walls if you you’re staying longer.

Please note that if you are visiting Foula you need to be self-sufficient as there are no shops and even be prepared for the reality that you may not get back off the island quite when you hoped to!

As usual general rights to responsible access apply meaning you can go most places in Foula, but there are two core paths that will give you a flavour of the best the island has to offer. A PDF of the routes can be found here

Core paths CPPWS08 takes in the northern end of the island with a 2.5km walk with views of the impressive Gaada Stack and the high cliffs of Soberlie. You can get the GPX file of it here.

Core path CPPWS03 runs from the harbour at Ham for 8km down the eastern side to the island to the South Light and then takes you through the wide open valley of Da Daal between the hills of Da Noup (248m) and Da Sneug (418m).

At the end of the valley is the deep chasm of Da Sneck o da Smaalie and expansive views of the west coast cliffs and bird colonies.  You can get the GPX file for it here.

Please don’t be tempted to descend in to Da Sneck, some of the rocks and boulders are quite unstable and any rescue would be a little tricky!

If you’re feeling fit and the tops are clear you can tick off the top of Da Sneug at 418m. The most obvious route to it being to follow the ridge from behind the Kirk via Hamnafield and Tounafield. Da Noup is best walked up from either near Da Biggins or Da Sneck.

Until next time, happy wanderings and don’t forget to follow #shetlandoutdoors and tag us in your adventures!