The UK's Most Remote Pub Offers Free Beers to Hikers Who Make the 15-Mile Trek

Let’s start with the good news: a Scottish pub will give a free pint to anyone who walks in and says the secret word to its bartender. The less-good news? According to the Guinness Book of World Records, The Old Forge Pub is the most remote pub on the United Kingdom mainland, and it takes a good two days to hike there.

According to The Daily Record, The Old Forge is in the ultra-rural village of Inverie (Pop. 104) on the Knoydart peninsula in northwest Scotland. The pub is currently owned by Knoydart Brewery which launched the competition and will be handing out free pints of its Trale Ale to anyone who walks there. (Wiggle, an online sports retailer, is co-producing the contest — and hikers who want to collect their brews have to say “Wiggle” to the bartender.)

“Having recently carried out an extensive refurb on our community-owned pub, we are looking forward to reopening the doors and welcoming folk in at the end of their epic trail over the hills of the Rough Bounds to get here,” Stephanie Harris of the Old Forge Community Benefit Society told the Daily Record. “Slainte."

The Old Forge is scheduled to reopen on Saturday, July 1, which is when the free Trale Ale competition begins. Every successful walker can have up to two pints on the house, while supplies last, and there will  be non-alcoholic options available too.

Although free beer never seems like a bad idea, you’re definitely going to have to work for this one. Even getting to the start of the walk at Kinloch Hourn is a winding 22-mile drive from the closest town. From there, it’s a strenuous 15-mile, two-day hike to the pub, with an elevation gain of over 3,400 feet.

“This is a difficult walk in wild and remote terrain and all walkers should be well equipped and prepared,” The Guardian columnist Robin McKelvie wrote after completing the hike last August. “A map and compass should be taken, ideally with more than one member of the group able to use them. Always leave your ETA with someone.”

We supposed you could also let the The Old Forge know to expect you, but that raises the question: can a pub be our emergency contact?