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A dramatic natural landmark on the Isle of Skye, the Old Man of Storr is a towering basalt pinnacle on the Trotternish Ridge, the longest landslip in Britain.

Slow slippage of the volcanic rock has left a stage set of spires, gullies and grassy plinths beneath the Storr escarpment. The Old Man stands among them like a dark sentinel above the Sound of Raasay. A path climbs from the roadside car park through the forest edge and onto open hillside. Within roughly an hour, walkers reach a view that opens across the water to the mainland peaks.

Light shapes the experience here. Dawn turns the rock gold, and mist can erase the pinnacles entirely before revealing them again within minutes. Norse and Gaelic legend lingers in the landscape, including the tale of a buried giant whose thumb became the pillar. Beyond the Storr, the ridge runs north toward the Quiraing, with longer routes for experienced hillwalkers. Arrive early, wear proper boots and expect the weather to change quickly.