Old Man of Storr

Rising dramatically above the Sound of Raasay on Skye's Trotternish peninsula, this 535-metre rocky pinnacle is one of Scotland's most photographed landmarks. The eastern face presents a sheer wall of ancient basalt columns and spires, while the gentler western slopes offer a contrasting grassy approach through one of the island's most iconic landscapes.

• •The name derives from Scottish Gaelic 'An Stòr', meaning 'the pinnacle' or 'pointed crag', a straightforward description of the distinctive rocky spire that dominates the skyline when approached from the east across the Sound of Raasay.
• •The hill is not typically climbed to its true summit at 535 metres; most walkers visit the famous rock formations below the main peak, including the 50-metre Old Man pinnacle itself, which was first climbed in 1955 by mountaineer Don Whillans.
• •The dramatic eastern cliffs and pinnacles were formed by a massive ancient landslip on the Trotternish Ridge, creating a chaotic jumble of basalt towers, gullies and hidden corries that continue to shift imperceptibly today.
• •From the plateau above the rock formations, views extend north along the Trotternish Ridge to the Quiraing, west across the island to the Cuillin, and east to the mainland peaks of Torridon and Applecross on clear days.
• •The distinctive stepped landscape around the Storr results from layer upon layer of basalt lava flows that erupted around 60 million years ago, later carved by ice and destabilised by underlying softer sedimentary rocks.
• •Despite its modest height by Scottish standards, the Storr receives more visitors than many Munros, with the car park at the base often filled before dawn during summer months.