Calanais on Foot – The Great Stones and Their Two Neighbours

The walk

This is a walk of 2 miles (3.2 km), graded moderate, taking one to two hours, from the Calanais Visitor Centre out to two more circles and back, with a steep lane up to the main stones at the end. The ground is township road, a short path and a short stretch of the A858, which is a main road, so take care with traffic. The walk's own page, on the Outer Hebrides visitor site, grades it.

Calanais II, Cnoc Ceann a' Ghàrraidh, is a wide ring of thin stones, five still standing, round a cairn, on a ridge that looks back to the main stones and out over East Loch Roag. Calanais III, Cnoc Fhillibhir Bheag, is a short path away: two rings, one inside the other, with eight of the outer ring's stones still upright and four left in the inner. Both stand on open croft land.

The great stones come last, up a steep lane near the centre. A ring surrounds one tall central stone, nearly five metres high. Rows of stones run out from the ring in a rough cross, the longest an avenue to the north-north-east. All are local Lewisian gneiss. In the centre's hours, entry to them is by ticket, booked on calanais.org. It covers the exhibition too and is good for a year. Outside those hours, and on Sundays, the path to the stones stays open. The stones were raised around 2750 BC, and the place had been given up by about 800 BC.

The centre and its café are open Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 4pm between October and March, and shut on Sundays. This is crofting ground with sheep, so dogs stay on a lead; dogs on leads are welcome in the centre, though not in the exhibition. The ridge is open to every wind, so wrap up. The café serves hot food until 3pm and lighter things after, and takes no bookings. On a Sunday, bring a flask.