Hidden Scotland
Sign in
Dunbeath Bay, waves on a pebble shore and the harbour buildings below a green headland.
Caithness

Dunbeath Bay

The bay and old herring harbour of Dunbeath on the east coast of Caithness, with a pebble shore, the white castle on its cliff and a statue from Neil Gunn's novels.

Welcome

Halfway down the east coast of Caithness, the A9 swings over a high, curving bridge above the valley of the Dunbeath Water, and below it lies Dunbeath Bay.

A road leads down to a small stone harbour and a shore of rounded pebbles, sheltered by a green headland.

The village was built in the early 1800s for the herring boom, when up to a hundred boats worked from this harbour. It is quiet now, but the harbour wall is the best place to see Dunbeath Castle, its white walls perched on the cliff to the south above the sea.

On the harbourside stands a statue of a boy carrying a great salmon: Kenn and the Salmon, from the novels of Neil Gunn, who was born here in 1891 and wrote about this coast. The Dunbeath Heritage Centre on the hill tells his story, and the pebble beach and rock pools of the bay are good for a wander.

A short drive awayThe River BothyA tea room, deli and gift shop in a stone cottage on the Berriedale River, just off the A9 on the Caithness coast.10 min by roadSee itShelves of jams, gifts and homeware inside the River Bothy, with botanical prints on the panelled walls.
Before you go

Open shore, there at any time.

The harbour and the heritage centre are in the village.

Where
Dunbeath, on the A9.
Harbour
Built for the herring boom.
Look for
Kenn and the Salmon.
Where it is

At Dunbeath on the A9, twenty miles south of Wick; the harbour road runs down from the village.

Close byDunbeath.
  1. Latheronwheel HarbourLatheronwheel Harbour4 miles8 min by road
  2. Lybster Harbour and LighthouseLybster Harbour and Lighthouse8 miles12 min by road
  3. Castle of Old WickCastle of Old WickThe old castle south of Wick.21 miles29 min by road
  4. Brig o' StackBrig o' StackA sea stack on the Wick cliffs.21 miles29 min by road
  5. Castle Sinclair GirnigoeCastle Sinclair GirnigoeA clifftop ruin north of Wick.26 miles45 min by road
Directions
Shelves of jams, gifts and homeware inside the River Bothy, with botanical prints on the panelled walls.CafeThe River Bothy6.7 miles
Stone wall and gorse-lined burn crossing open farmland with distant wind turbinesAttractionsLybster8.2 miles
A stone bridge spans a wooded gorge above a village of bungalowsAttractionsLybster Harbour9.1 miles
The tumbled stone walls of Badbea among bracken on the clifftop, the sea far below.AttractionsBadbea Clearance Village9.4 miles
Ousdale Broch's thick drystone walls and low doorway among bracken on a green hillside.AttractionsOusdale Broch11 miles
Small pale standing stones scattered in rows through the heather on the Hill o' Many Stanes.AttractionsHill o' Many Stanes12 miles
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.