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Lysippos · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsGuide · Scotland
Assynt and the far north-west: a road trip in walks
Beaches, caves, a broch and the rock face that changed geology, between Ullapool and Cape Wrath.
By the TRXO team · · 4 min read
- walks
- 7
- long
- 1.6–10 km
- biggest climb
- 1210 m
- by public transport
- 0
- dog-friendly
- 7
North of Ullapool the land changes. The hills stop being ranges and become single mountains standing on their own in a sea of bog and lochans: Stac Pollaidh, Cul Mor, Suilven, Quinag. The rock is the oldest in Europe. The beaches are white and empty. This is Assynt, and beyond it Sutherland runs on to the north coast and Cape Wrath.
The hills here are serious and most of them are in our hill lists already. This guide is about the other days: the short walks you do between them, or instead of them when the cloud is down, or because the beach is right there. They run roughly south to north, the way the road does.
The road is the North Coast 500 for much of its length. It's single-track in places, and the walks on it are a better reason to stop than most of the viewpoints.
Where they are
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Elphin
Knockan Crag
- 1.8 km distance
- 110 m ascent
- 0.5–1 h time
- Easy grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXA cliff beside the road where, in 1907, two geologists proved that a slab of ancient rock had been pushed on top of younger rock, and settled the biggest argument in their science. The trail climbs to the line of the thrust, where you can put one hand on each side of half a billion years, and runs along the top of the crag with Cul Mor and Stac Pollaidh across the moor. An hour, and the best introduction to Assynt there is.
-
Inchnadamph
The Bone Caves of Inchnadamph
- 7 km distance
- 280 m ascent
- 2–3 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXA dry limestone glen with a river that comes out of the ground halfway up it, and four caves in the cliff at the top where the bones of bears, lynx, reindeer and a polar bear were dug out. The path is easy until the final ledge along the cliff, which is narrow with a drop. Two hours there and back, and very good in rain, when the glen fills with water that isn't there on a dry day.
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Achmelvich
Achmelvich Bay and the Hermit's Castle
- 4.9 km distance
- 110 m ascent
- 1.5 h time
- Easy grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXThe beach the photographs of Assynt are taken on: white sand, water the colour of somewhere much warmer, and a campsite behind the dunes. Walk over the headland to the Hermit's Castle, a concrete folly the size of a garden shed that an architect built in the 1950s and never lived in, and on to the next bay. A morning, with swimming if you're brave.
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Clachtoll
Clachtoll beach and broch
- 2.1 km distance
- 20 m ascent
- 0.5 h time
- Easy grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXA smaller beach with a split rock in the sand and, along the shore, an Iron Age broch that was excavated in 2017 and turned out to have been abandoned in a hurry two thousand years ago, with everything still inside. The dig has been covered over, but the walls are there and the site is on the sea with the Summer Isles beyond. An easy hour.
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Strath More
Ben Hope
- 10 km distance
- 1210 m ascent
- 4.5–6 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXThe most northerly Munro, and if you want one mountain from this trip, this is it: a steep, straightforward climb from the road in Strathmore to a summit that looks out over Sutherland to the north coast and Orkney. Four to five hours. The west face is cliffs, so the descent is the way you came up.
-
Durness
Smoo Cave and the Durness cliffs
- 1.6 km distance
- 80 m ascent
- 0.5 h time
- Easy grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXThe biggest sea-cave entrance in Britain, with a burn pouring through a hole in its roof into a chamber behind. Steps lead down from the road and you can walk into the first chamber for nothing; the boat into the second runs in summer. The clifftop path east from the cave has the whole north coast laid out. Half an hour for the cave, an hour and a half with the cliffs.
-
Blairmore, Kinlochbervie
Sandwood Bay
- 8.7 km distance
- 220 m ascent
- 2.5–3 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
Route, map and GPXA mile of pink sand with a sea stack at one end and nothing else, reached by a four-mile track across the moor from the road end at Blairmore. No café, no car park at the beach, no one much. The next headland north is Cape Wrath. It's the best beach in Britain and the walk is the reason it still is. Three to four hours; take food and the whole afternoon.
Before you go
- Fuel and shops are far apart up here. Lochinver, Scourie, Kinlochbervie and Durness have them; not much between.
- Midges from June to September, worst on still evenings at Sandwood and Achmelvich. A head net weighs nothing.
- Deer stalking affects the hills, not these walks. Ben Hope's estate posts notices at the start; the walk page has the details.
- The phone signal is patchy on all of these and absent at Sandwood. Download the map before you leave Ullapool.
Questions people ask
How long is the walk to Sandwood Bay?
About 7 km each way on a good track, so 14 km in all. Most people take three to four hours including time on the beach.
Is Knockan Crag suitable for children?
Yes. It's a short, well-made trail with steps, sculptures and a view, and the car park has toilets. The Bone Caves are fine for older children but the final ledge isn't for small ones.
Which is the best beach in Assynt?
Achmelvich for swimming and facilities, Clachtoll for history, Sandwood for the walk and the solitude. Sandwood isn't in Assynt strictly, but nobody minds.
Can I do these without a car?
Not easily. A bus runs between Ullapool and Lochinver and stops at Knockan Crag; the others need a car or a bike.
Read next
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GuideScotland's best beach walksTen walks to white sand, singing sand and dunes the size of hills, from Ardnamurchan to the Moray coast. -
ArticleWalking in the Highlands in stalking seasonFrom July to February someone may be stalking deer on the hill you want to climb. Here's how it works, how to find out, and how to plan a good autumn day around it. - Trail NotesAll postsEvery guide, article and blog post by the TRXO team.