'Chaos guaranteed' at Skye Fairy Pools as roads 'back in terrible state'
Tour operators avoid the area altogether because of how bad the road is.
As holiday season is well underway, infrastructure at one of Scotland’s most visited locations is already crumbling.
The route to the Fairy Pools, on the Isle of Skye, has hit headlines because of the multi-hour traffic jams locals and tourists get snarled up in due to the poor conditions of the road.
Tour operators, who use the magical waterfalls as a prime selling point for their trips, have, in the last couple of years, avoided Glen Brittle altogether because of the queues and delays on the poorly maintained road.
While efforts were made to repair some of the road over the winter months last year, locals said potholes the depth of traffic cones and some as wide as the road itself remain or have re-emerged, with the worst part of the route being next to the attraction’s car park.
The popular tourist site draws some 200,000 people a year, with the single-track road from Merkadale being the only way to access them.
In the winter of 2025, Highland Council made a concerted effort to restore the road after tourists reported four-hour vehicle standstills. At the time, the road’s condition was blamed for frequent punctures, leaving stranded cars and campervans blocking the route.
Adrian Trendall, a mountain guide who lives in the Minginish area, where the pools are, warned that the road remains ill-equipped to cope with the expected influx of visitors in 2026.
“I think chaos will be guaranteed as the season builds up,” he said.
“In previous years, some tour operators have definitely made a conscious effort to give the glen a miss and if the road deteriorates and chaos ensues, then I think that will happen again this year.
“The road was grim in 2024 with pretty much everyday seeing multiple accidents, car break downs, campervans going off the road.
“Several times the police closed the road and on one of the closures they estimated there were 400 vehicles trapped in the traffic jam caused by camper vans going off road and getting bogged down blocking the road.”
Mr Trendall said roadworks carried out from January last year improved the situation temporarily. They included upgrading the road, lengthening passing places, installing extra signs explaining not to use passing places for parking and white lining the road edges on the most dodgy section.
“Unfortunately, due to heavy use, the weather and possibly a budget conscious construction, the road is now getting back to a terrible state,” he said.
“There are several huge potholes which were marked for ages over winter by having traffic cones inserted in them they were that deep,” he said.
“The worst section is just above the Fairy Pools where the road is steep and bendy and potholes pretty much cross the full width of the road and are unavoidable.”
Councillor John Finlayson, independent member for Eilean a' Cheò, said Highland Council was aware of the condition of the road, which has been listed on its 2026/27 spending programme.
Mr Finlayson pointed to an estimated £3,187,975, announced earlier this year, to be spent on roads on Skye and Rassay over the next year, including the single-track route to the Fairy Pools.
“We recognise the significant pressures this route experiences, particularly during the peak tourist season, and we are aware of the concerns raised locally regarding road condition, congestion, and safety and last year significant investment was made in improving the road and adding additional passing places,” he said.
Highland Council has been contacted for comment.
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