Bioda Mor

About Bioda Mor

Guarding the northern edge of Talisker Bay, this dramatic coastal Marilyn offers a front-row seat to Skye’s wild western fringe. Vertiginous basalt cliffs and steep grassy slopes reward a short, sharp ascent with exceptional views across the Minch towards Rum and Canna, and back inland to the jagged Black Cuillin.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic 'Bioda Mòr', meaning 'Great Peak'. While modest in absolute height, the 'great' refers to its commanding presence as the highest point of the vertical sea cliffs that wall in the northern side of Talisker Bay.
• •The hill is composed of Tertiary basalt lavas. These volcanic flows created the massive, dark columns visible on the seaward face, which drop precipitously into the Atlantic and provide nesting sites for fulmars and white-tailed eagles.
• •To the south, the summit overlooks the historic Talisker House, once the seat of the MacLeods of Talisker and famously visited by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell during their 1773 tour of the Hebrides.
• •Hikers often combine a visit to the summit with a walk to the grey boulders of Talisker Bay to see the impressive waterfall that pours over the cliffs; in high winds, the water is frequently blown back upwards in a spectacular white spray.
• •Its status as a Marilyn—a hill with a prominence of at least 150 metres—is only possible because the neck of land connecting it to the rest of the Minginish peninsula dips significantly at the Bealach Talisker.