Description
- Background
-
MacKinnons Brook Lane is the common name used to designate the road from the Mabou Post Road Trail Head to its end above MacKinnons Brook on the side of Beinn Alisdair Bhain (Fair Alistair’s Mountain). The Cape Mabou Trail Club designates much of this road as the Cul Na Beinne (Beyond the Mountain) Trail(the rest is part of the Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair’s Mountain) Trail).
Bizarrely, Google Maps refers to the MacKinnons Brook Trail from Sight Point to MacKinnons Brook and then MacKinnons Brook Lane from there to the Mabou Post Road Trail head as the Broad Cove Banks Road, apparently viewing the latter, commonly held to terminate at Sight Point, as continuing on to MacDonalds Glen. I have been unable to find any justification for this strange usage.
The description on this page is from the point of view of a hiking trail; see the MacKinnons Brook Lane page for its description as a road. - Google Maps Name
- Not Shown
- Local Usage
- MacKinnons Brook Lane, the Cul Na Beinne (pronounced [kuv.nɑ.ˈbɛn.e]) Trail, the Beyond the Mountain Trail
- Direction
- South to North
- Start Point
- 46°08.550′N 61°26.834′W, at the Mabou Post Road Trail Head
- End Point
- 46°09.699′N 61°25.934′W, at the three way junction of the MacKinnons Brook Trail, the Cul Na Beinne (Beyond the Mountain) Trail, and the Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair’s Mountain) Trail
- Length
- 3.8 km (2⅜ mi)
- Classification
- Hiking Trail
- Surface
- Gravel for the most part; some areas of two-track-and-crown lane
- Condition
- Generally excellent for hiking
- Route Description
- From the Mabou Post Road Trail Head, the Cul Na Beinne (Beyond the Mountain) Trail proceeds to the east northeast, following the course of Mill Brook and then MacIsaacs Glen Brook through a deep valley, and climbing gently but steadily as it skirts the base of Cross Mountain and the Highlands to the north. It then turns north, crossing MacIsaacs Glen Brook at the “White Bridge” and starts climbing smartly up to a col, where first the Trap à Mhathain (Bear Trap) Trail and then the Oir à Ghlinne (Edge of the Valley) Trail head off to the east and northeast, respectively. From the col, MacKinnons Brook Lane descends gradually, with occasional and sometimes tree-shrouded views of the Highlands to the east, to the three-way trail junction near the MacKinnons Brook Trail Head.
- Vic’s Scenic Rating
- ☆☆☆☆☆
- Comments
- This route offers no fine panoramas, but it is nevertheless one I have grown very fond of, not least because it requires less climbing than the other routes to MacKinnons Brook, though it is no level walk either. From the trail head to the “White Bridge”, trees overarch the road and the cheerful song of the brooks accompanies one along the way. In the fall, the beauty of the leaves adds to the general enchantment. At the “White Bridge”, a fine view of the Highlands rising above the glen is on offer. I often hike there just for the pleasure of a picnic lunch on the bridge, listening to the singing of the brook and admiring the surrounding Highlands; on a blue-sky day, it’s a hard place to beat for quiet contemplation of natural beauty.
