The Singing Sands – A Forest Track to a White Beach
6 miles · 2½ to 3½ hours · there and back
dogs on a lead
The Singing Sands is a white beach on the north coast of Ardnamurchan, shut in by forest and rocky headlands, with the Small Isles on the horizon.
Its Gaelic name is Camas an Lighe, and it's known for the sound the dry sand can make underfoot. No road goes near it. The usual way in is a track from Arivegaig, round the shore of Kentra Bay and through the forest at Gortenfern: just under 10 km there and back, on easy ground all the way.
Where it starts
A small gravel car park at the end of the public road at Arivegaig, west of Acharacle.
Is it for me?
Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.
Before you go
Getting there
No overnight parking for caravans.
On the path
Two and a half to three and a half hours: 9.8 km there and back on gravel and forest track. A long, easy walk. Gravel and forest track, then a short path down through trees and heath to the sand. Flat and easy but long for small legs; keep children on the track through the forest.
Good to know
All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11.30am. Dogs on a lead: sheep and deer are about. The nearest public toilets are in Acharacle. Signs in the forest warn of unexploded munitions from wartime training: keep to the track and the beach.
The walk
The walk starts from the small gravel car park at the end of the public road at Arivegaig, west of Acharacle. Caravans may not stay overnight. Acharacle is on the A861, which comes south from the A830 at Lochailort, so no ferry is needed to get here. Wild Lochaber, the local guide to these peninsulas, measures the walk at 9.8 km there and back and grades it moderate. Walkhighlands allows two and a half to three and a half hours. It's gravel and forest track nearly all the way and easy to follow.
The first part runs beside Kentra Bay, a wide inlet that empties to mudflats and salt marsh at low tide. Curlew, oystercatcher and wigeon feed there, and sometimes an otter. Then the track climbs gently through a spruce plantation, and a signed path drops to the beach. Signs in the forest warn of unexploded munitions, because this coast was used for commando training in the Second World War. Keep to the track and the beach, and leave any metal object alone. The sand is pale and fine between outcrops of dark rock, and on a dry day it can squeak or sing as you walk across it.
The sandy bays further east are reached only over rough, boggy ground with no clear path. There are no toilets on the way, and the nearest are in Acharacle. Sheep and deer are about, so keep dogs on a lead. From November to January, set off by 11.30am.
If it rains
The track is firm in any weather and the forest gives some shelter, but it's a long way to walk to a beach in the rain. Keep it for a dry day, when the sand has a chance of singing.
After the walk
Something to do with the rest of the day, nearest the end of the walk first.
Places to stay near the walk
Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.
None of ours is close to the start. The nearest is The Old School in Kingairloch, 32 miles from the start. Sleeps 4. An advert.
Then Curlew Cottage in Kingairloch, 32 miles from the start. Sleeps 5. An advert.
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.
Photograph by Anna A via Google
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