Assynt
A wild corner of Sutherland of lochs, moorland and strange lone mountains, part of a National Scenic Area, with Lochinver on its coast.
Assynt is in the far north-west of Scotland.
Out of a rolling, rocky country of lochs and moorland rise lone mountains of red-brown sandstone, some capped with pale quartzite, standing apart from each other like ships at sea.
The rocks here are among the oldest on Earth, and the glaciers of the last ice age carved them into their strange shapes. Suilven, towering above Lochinver, is the one everyone wants to climb; its neighbour Canisp stands close by, and to the north Quinag, whose name means the milk pail, is not one mountain but a whole range of peaks. Together with Coigach to the south, the area is a National Scenic Area.
A day here might take in white-sand beaches on the coast, the ruins of Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt, and the ice age Bone Caves above Inchnadamph. The roads are narrow and single-track, so take your time.
Open country, at any hour.
- Where
- South-west Sutherland, north of Ullapool.
- Hills
- Suilven, Canisp, Quinag.
- Rock
- Some of the oldest on Earth.
In the south-west of Sutherland, reached by the A837 from Ledmore and by the coast road from Lochinver.
Places to stay near the country, and when each is next free.
Scotland, in print.
Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.