Uneval Chambered Cairn View all content for Uneval

A classic, special site and, due to it's remoteness, a visit here is not to be taken lightly. It's an approx 5 mile round trip across rough, tiring terrain.... not sure the TMA book makes that quite clear enough, to be honest. Park at the 'kink' in the road west of Beinn a'Charra - if heading north-east, this is just after the third loch on your left (Loch a' Charra). There's a track heading north-west at this point - ignore this, since Uineabhal is the low hill away across the moor to the south-east. From here you are basically left to your own devices to cross approx two and a half miles of peat bog, trackless, as far as I could tell. If not, I certainly missed it! Since the weather was somewhat 'changeable' I therefore took a bearing on the southern tip of Loch Dubh and then another to the southern flank of the hill, upon which stands the chambered cairn. Known in Gaelic as 'Leacach an Tigh Chloiche', it's a substantial cairn with large orthostats forming a kerb. The chamber (roofless) and entrance passage are in the south-eastern flank of the cairn, with a large, free-standing monolith some way beyond the south-western corner. The disturbance at the north end of the cairn is apparently the remains of an Iron Age house inserted during the, er, Iron Age.... However it is the siting, the views and sheer remoteness which make a visit here a must, the landscape a patchwork of lochs leading to the coast. Climb to the summit of Uineabhal and a small dun is visible on an island within Loch Huna below to the east.

Posted by GLADMAN 21st June 2009ce

Comments (1)
This is a remarkable site. When we visited four years ago it was a glorious hebridean summer day with stunning views to St Kilda about fifty miles out into the Atlantic. The easiest approach is by the fisherman's footpath to the south of Cladach Chaolais (Cladach Kyles) on the A865. Loch nan Athan will be on your right and Loch Dubhasairidh on your left. The path runs out at the wee lochan just before Loch Fada. From here you head for the southern slope of Uneval about a kilometre away. The climb up to the cairn is not steep. If you are in the Uists this is a site not to be missed. But save it for a sunny day for the St Kilda views. If it is raining... the many lochs and lochans are brimming with brown trout - take your fly rod!	Posted by Howburn Digger 9th May 2010ce
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