Holborn Head – Sea Stacks and Blowholes by Scrabster
About 4 miles on foot.
Holborn Head is the headland just beyond Scrabster's busy harbour, and within minutes of the lighthouse the shipping containers give way to sheep, sea and some of the best cliff scenery on the north coast.
The loop passes sea stacks, arches, blowholes and layered rock stacked like plates, with Dunnet Head and the hills of Hoy across the water. A fine couple of hours for walkers who keep well back from the edge.
- Time
- About two hours for the 4-mile (7 km) loop.
- The path
- Unmade paths on short grass, then a track and a minor road.
- Where to start
- The car park by the A9 at Scrabster harbour.
- When to go
- All year in daylight, in dry, still weather; from November to February set off by 12.30pm.
- Dogs
- On a lead: sheep and cattle graze the headland.
- Children
- Keep children close: the path runs near sheer drops and blowholes.
- Before you set out
- Unmade paths, in places very close to the cliff edge, with blowholes; a slip could be fatal in wind or wet.
The walk
The walk starts and ends at the car park by the A9 at Scrabster harbour, and there's a bus to Scrabster too. The loop goes out through the port to the little lighthouse at its far end, where the sheep and the sea views begin, then anticlockwise round the headland on short grass, past Holborn Head and Spear Head to the Clett sea stack and the inlet at Heron Craig, with blowholes along the way. Look out for eiders in the harbour and shags and fulmars on the cliffs, and across the water to Dunnet Head and Hoy, with the Orkney ferry coming and going.
From Heron Craig a track and then a minor road bring you back to Scrabster. It's 4 miles (7 km) with about 120 metres of climbing: allow about two hours. The path is unmade and in places runs very close to the cliff edge, with unexpected blowholes and big drops, so keep children close, keep well back, and leave it for another day in wind or wet.
Sheep and cattle graze the headland, so keep dogs on a lead. From November to February set off by 12.30pm.
If it rains
Not a walk for wind or wet: the path runs close to sheer cliff edges. On a wild day, look at the sea from the lighthouse at the harbour's end and leave the headland for another day.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is House of the Northern Gate, 7 miles away. Sleeps 18.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Ray Chandler via Google