Faraid Head – Balnakeil's Sands to the Headland Cairn
4 miles · 3 hours · there and back
dogs welcome
Balnakeil Bay is a great curve of pale sand on the far north coast, and Faraid Head is the long headland that closes it off to the north.
The walk goes out along the whole beach, up through the dunes onto the headland for the view from its cairn, and back over the machair, the grassland behind the dunes. It's a fine morning for walkers and dogs on a wild beach, and seals are often in the bay.
Is it for me?
Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.
Before you go
On the path
About three hours for the walk to Faraid Head and back, about 3.5 km (2 miles) each way. Soft sand, a track through the dunes and rough grass on the headland. For children, a beach walk with a short climb into the dunes.
Good to know
All year in daylight; from November to February set off by noon. Puffins on the headland from about mid-May to mid-July. Dogs under close control: birds nest on the ground in spring and summer. The way back round the headland's rocks is for low tide only.
The walk
Park in the car park by the ruined church at Balnakeil, at the end of the little road from Durness, with the monument to the Gaelic poet Rob Donn beside it. The walk runs the length of the beach, climbs through the dunes onto Faraid Head and goes round beside the Ministry of Defence's ground to a viewpoint marked by a cairn, then comes back through the dunes. At low tide the way back can go round the rocks of the headland onto the main beach instead.
It's about 2 miles (3.5 km) each way to the cairn, about 4 miles (7 km) there and back, much of it on soft sand: allow about three hours. From October seals are often on the sands or in the bay, with waders on the shore, and with luck porpoises or even whales offshore; the puffins on the headland's cliffs are a summer sight, from about mid-May to mid-July. Keep dogs under close control, as birds nest on the ground here in spring and summer.
Bring layers: the headland catches every wind. From November to February set off by noon. On the way back to Durness, Cocoa Mountain in Balnakeil Craft Village does hot chocolate every day from March to November, 9am to 6pm; it shuts from December to February.
If it rains
There's no shelter on the beach or the headland: on a wet, wild day walk the sands as far as you like and turn back before the dunes.
After the walk
Coffee and cake, and something to do with the rest of the day, nearest the end of the walk first.
With the rest of the day
1 min by roadA shopBalnakeil Craft VillageA collection of old military buildings on the road to Balnakeil Bay, home for many years to artists and makers: galleries, ceramics, a chocolatier and more.
2 min by roadThings to doDurnessThe most north-westerly village on the mainland, above the sands of Sango Bay, with Smoo Cave on one side, Balnakeil on the other and places to stop and eat.
5 min by roadThings to doKyle of DurnessThe long sea loch south-west of Durness, sands and channels at low water, where a small passenger ferry crosses from Keoldale on the way to Cape Wrath.Places to stay near the walk
Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.
An advert · Laid
Shore Cottage
A cottage for two on the shore of Loch Eriboll, six miles east of Durness, with a wall of glass to the loch, a wood burner and a bath outside under the night sky.
Sleeps 2 · 14 minutes by road
See Shore Cottage
More places to stay near the walk
More walks near here
Within a short drive of the start.
Did this walk?
Tell the next person how it went. The best go on this page, with your name.
For further reading, before you go.
Maps from OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors; heights from Mapzen's terrain tiles.