The Kyles of Bute ( gd, Na Caoil Bhòdach) form a narrow sea channel that separates the northern end of the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...

from the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arroch ...

peninsula in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

, on the Scottish mainland. The surrounding hillsides are roughly wooded, and overlooked by rocky tops and areas of moorland. The Kyles are split into the East and West Kyles. The East Kyle ( gd, An Caol an Ear) runs from Rothesay Bay north west up to the entrance to

Loch Riddon ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spell ...

. Here at the northern end of the East Kyle are the

Burnt Islands The Burnt Islands ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Loisgte) are three small islands that lie in the Kyles of Bute, on the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute, on the West coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands are located at . Individually the Islands ...

and the island of Eilean Dubh. The West Kyle ( gd, An Caol an Iar/An Caol Ceathrach) runs from here southwest, past the village of

Tighnabruaich Tighnabruaich; (; gd, Taigh na Bruaich) is a village on the Cowal peninsula, on the western arm of the Kyles of Bute in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In 2011 the population was 660. It is west of Glasgow and north of the Isle of Arran. Tighnabru ...

out to the

Sound of Bute In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

.Ordnance Survey Explorer Map. Sheet 362: Cowal West & Isle of Bute. The area is a designated National Scenic Area. The Kyles are reflected in the name of Tighnabruaich-based Shinty team

Kyles Athletic Kyles Athletic Shinty Club is a shinty team from Tighnabruaich, Argyll, Scotland. It is one of the sport's most illustrious names, presently playing in the Marine Harvest Premiership with their second team is playing in South Division one. In 20 ...

Transport

The narrowest strait is only some 300 m across and is spanned by the Calmac ferry from Rhubodach to

Colintraive Colintraive ( gd, Caol an t-Snàimh) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Once the site where cattle were swum across the narrows to the Isle of Bute, the MV ''Loch Dunvegan'' — a ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne — now provides ...

. The crossing takes only 5 minutes, and runs every half hour throughout the day, seven days a week. Since 1999 the service has been operated by , which formerly served on the route from

Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh (from the Gaelic ''Caol Loch Aillse'', "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross-shire on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is located on the Lo ...

to the Isle of Skye. Due to her size relative to the short crossing the ferry normally sails with both ramps unfolded. As the crossing is so short the issue of whether the ferry should be replaced by a bridge has been discussed a number of times, for example by

Highlands and Islands Enterprise Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE; gd, Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd 's nan Eilean) is the development agency for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. Its role is to "hel ...

in 1995. The

A8003 road A8, A08, A 8 or A-8 may refer to: Electronics * ARM Cortex-A8, a processor used in mobile devices * Apple A8, a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. *AMD A8, an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit * Samsung Galaxy A8, various smartpho ...

runs above the West Kyle, reaching a height of 130 m just north of Tighnabruaich. On the mainland shore of the East Kyle the

A886 road The A886 road in Scotland is an unusual road in the United Kingdom, located in the south of Argyll and Bute, on the Cowal peninsula and on the Isle of Bute. It has been wrongly described as the only road number to include a ferry crossing along ...

also takes a route above the shoreline, however the B866 road runs closer to the shore of Loch Riddon. The A and B roads meet just north of Colintraive, from where the route of the A886 continues over the ferry to run along the east shore of Bute to

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

Tourism

A trip through the Kyles of Bute was a common feature of a trip "doon the watter" on a

Clyde steamer The Clyde steamer is the collective term for several passenger services that existed on the River Clyde in Scotland, running from Glasgow downstream to Rothesay and other towns, a journey known as going ''doon the watter''. The era of the C ...

during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As of 2018 the , the last sea-going

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

in the world, still operates a summer season on the Clyde and continues to offer sailings through the Kyles. The Kyles are also very popular for

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

, and there are many sheltered anchorages. The

Cowal Way The Loch Lomond and Cowal Way is a waymarked footpath through the Cowal peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, between Portavadie on Cowal and Inveruglas on Loch Lomond side. It was formerly known as the Cowal Way, but was renamed in December 2018 to re ...

, a waymarked footpath between

and Tarbet, follows the shoreline of the West Kyle, below the A8003. The West Island Way, a waymarked footpath on the Isle of Bute, follows the western shore of the East Kyle for a section of its northern loop: this section is along the A886. Both routes are officially designated as being among

Scotland's Great Trails Scotland's Great Trails are long-distance "people-powered" trails in Scotland, analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales or the Grande Randonnée paths of France. The designated routes are primarily intended for walkers, but may have se ...

. The Kyles form part of an area marketed for tourism purposes as "

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

's Secret Coast".

Conservation

The area is designated as the Kyles of Bute National Scenic Area, one of the forty such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The designated area covers 5739 ha in total, of which 4723 ha is on land, with a further 1016 ha being marine (i.e. below low tide level), and includes land on Bute and the Cowal peninsula, extending to take in the surroundings of Loch Riddon. Bird species that can regularly be seen in the Kyles include

eider duck Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quil ...

oystercatchers The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The e ...

and

herons The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

. One of the

, Eilean Buidhe, is the site of the remains of a circular

vitrified fort Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northe ...

about 19.5 m in diameter. The remaining walls stand up to 1.5 m on the eastern side of the site. Further north, Eilean Dearg in Loch Riddon is the site of a

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

castle that was destroyed by naval action during

Argyll's Rising Argyll's Rising, also known as Argyll's Rebellion, was an attempt in June 1685 to overthrow James II and VII. Led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, the rising was intended to tie down Royal forces in Scotland while a simultaneous reb ...

in 1685.

Ownership

The eastern shores of the East Kyle forms the Ardentraive Estate, which is owned by the Mount Stuart Trust, which also owns Mount Stuart House, and most of the Isle of Bute (including the eastern shoreline of the West Kyle). The Mount Stuart Trust is still largely controlled by the family of the Marquess of Bute, the Crichton-Stuarts. The Rhubodach estate on Bute, which includes the western shoreline of the East Kyle was formerly owner by actor and director Lord Attenborough. In August 2009 he placed estate up for sale, and a referendum carried out on 12 February 2010 showed 93% of islanders supported a plan land to buy the land for the community. In January 2011 he sold the estate, which consists mostly of forest for the reduced fee of £1.48 million. The Rhubodach estate is now owned by the Bute Community Land Company, a charitable company formed by residents living on the island. The main landowner on the western shoreline of the West Kyle is the Ardlamont Forest, which as of 2002 was owned by Loch Lomond Distillery. A viewpoint and

indicator Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health ...

on the A8003 road overlooking the Kyles belongs to the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...

.National Trust for Scotland. 2018 Guide. p.117

Gallery

File:Kyles of Bute - geograph.org.uk - 616059.jpg, Kyles of Bute File:Caladh harbour light (3537878307).jpg, Caladh harbour light File:Burnt Islands Kyles of Bute.jpg, Burnt Islands Kyles of Bute File:Admiralty Chart No 1906 Kyles of Bute and Inchmarnock Water, Published 1956.jpg, Admiralty Chart No 1906 Kyles of Bute and Inchmarnock Water

References

External links

Kyles Athletic

Colintraive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyles Of Bute National scenic areas of Scotland Bodies of water of Scotland Landforms of Argyll and Bute Channels of the United Kingdom Cowal