Covesea – Along Lossiemouth's West Beach to the Lighthouse
About 3 miles on foot.
West of Lossiemouth the sand runs on for miles below the dunes, and at the end of the first long sweep a tall white lighthouse stands on a low headland of its own.
It makes a fine thing to walk to along the shore, about 2.4 km each way, with the Moray Firth beside you the whole time. Go when the tide is out and the sand is wide and firm.
- Time
- An hour and a half to two hours: about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) each way along the sand, flat all the way.
- The path
- Sand all the way, soft above the tideline and firm below it. No made path.
- Where to start
- The West Beach car park at Stotfield, beside the Beach Hut café. Free.
- When to go
- All year in daylight, on a falling tide. The lighthouse opens for booked tours on Saturdays from April to October. From November to January set off by 12.30pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- Flat sand all the way, with rock pools at low tide. Keep an eye on the tide.
- Toilets
- The Beach Hut café at the car park has toilets for its customers. Public toilets on Seatown Road in Lossiemouth. None along the beach.
- Before you set out
- The sand is widest and firmest at low tide: check a tide table. The lighthouse opens for booked tours on Saturdays from April to October only.
The walk
Park at the West Beach car park at Stotfield, on the west side of Lossiemouth beside the Beach Hut café, where parking is free. The café has toilets for its customers, and there are public toilets across town on Seatown Road. There's no path to find: the walk is the beach itself, a broad sweep of sand running west below the dunes to the lighthouse on its low headland. It's about 2.4 km away, or a mile and a half, so close to 5 km there and back. An hour and a half to two hours covers it, with time at the far end.
Covesea Skerries lighthouse was finished in 1846 to a design by Alan Stevenson. A storm in November 1826 had wrecked 16 vessels in the Moray Firth, and people along the coast petitioned for a light. The white tower is 36 metres tall. Its lamp was put out on 2 March 2012, when a lit buoy out on the Halliman Skerries took over, and the following year the local community bought the tower and the keepers' cottages. On the way, look for a wartime pillbox perched on the rocks above the sand and a line of concrete tank traps.
Seals bask on the skerries offshore, and dolphins are often seen along this coast. The sand is at its widest and firmest when the tide is low, so check a tide table and go on a falling tide. RAF Lossiemouth's runway is just inland, and the jets come over low. Tours of the tower run on Saturdays from April to October and must be booked ahead on 01343 810664. From November to January, set off by 12.30pm.
If it rains
A beach with no shelter at all, so it's one for a dry day. A stiff west wind in your face on the way out is at your back coming home.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
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For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Michael Kelly via Google