Hidden Scotland
Sign in
A walk up to the Hood stones above Loch Eriboll
A walk · Durness

Loch Eriboll – A Climb to the Hood Stones

Directions
The Hood stones

Royal Navy ships anchored in Loch Eriboll between the wars and through the Second World War, and in May 1945 German U-boats came into it to surrender.

On the hill above Laid, on the loch's west shore, sailors set out their ships' names in whitewashed stones, HMS Hood's among them. This walk climbs the open hillside to them, and a meal at a hotel bar in Durness follows.

The walk

Park in the large lay-by at the old quarry beside the A838 at Laid. The stones lie on the open hillside above, some 800 feet above sea level. The way is over heather, grass and patches of bare peat, so wear boots.

In the 1920s and 1930s, while their ships lay at anchor in the loch, sailors climbed up here and spelled out the ships' names in white stones, each letter about two metres tall. Hood's name is there twice, with Valiant, Whirlwind and Blake among the others. The Hood went down in 1941, sunk by the Bismarck, and only three of her crew survived.

Children from Durness Primary School have cleared and painted the stones more than once. Turn round for Loch Eriboll below and Ben Hope beyond the far shore. Keep dogs on a short lead among grazing animals.

If it rains

The names can be made out from the lay-by with binoculars, and the hotel bar is under cover.

On the way

  1. Ceannabeinne Beach

    The road to the hotel runs right past the parking area above Ceannabeinne, and a path leads a few minutes down to a small cove of pale sand between rocky headlands, its rocks streaked with pink. Below the old township of the same name, it makes a short stop on the way.

Afterwards

  1. 12 min by car

    Smoo Cave Hotel

    Smoo Cave Hotel

    Late lunch

    It's 12 minutes' drive north round the coast to the Smoo Cave Hotel, at Lerin in the east of Durness, just off the A838 with parking of its own. Its bar and restaurant are open to visitors as well as guests, and the menu has hot and cold snacks as well as main meals, to eat in or take away. There's no booking, so a table is first come, first served, and a dog on a lead can come into the bar.

Where to stay

Find out more

For further reading, before you go.

Photographs by Ian Moore and Alex Morgan via Google