The village of
Baltasound has shops, post office, hotel, marina and a leisure centre with
a heated swimming pool for those cold, rainy days.
Points of interest in
the area include: prehistoric cairns on the hill of Crussafield; the ruins
of Baliasta Kirk, near the side road to the Loch of Cliff, the lonely
valley and boulder beach of Woodwick (where semi-precious stones are
found); and the old horse-powered mill at Hagdale, a 19th century iron
chromate mine. Traces of old mines and quarries dot the hills north of
Baltasound. At Quoys, near the salmon hatchery, is a disused talc quarry.
On the eastern side of
Baltasound, is a unique botanical site - The Keen of Hamar National Nature
Reserve. This desert look alike supports a number of rare plants including
Edmondston's Chickweed which is found nowhere else in the world but Unst.
