Faraid Head – Balnakeil's Sands to the Headland Cairn
About 4 miles on foot.
Balnakeil Bay is a great curve of pale sand on the far north coast, and Faraid Head is the long headland that closes it off to the north.
The walk goes out along the whole beach, up through the dunes onto the headland for the view from its cairn, and back over the machair, the grassland behind the dunes. It's a fine morning for walkers and dogs on a wild beach, and seals are often in the bay.
- Time
- About three hours for the walk to Faraid Head and back, about 3.5 km (2 miles) each way.
- The path
- Soft sand, a track through the dunes and rough grass on the headland.
- Where to start
- The car park by the ruined church at Balnakeil.
- When to go
- All year in daylight; from November to February set off by noon. Puffins on the headland from about mid-May to mid-July.
- Dogs
- Under close control: birds nest on the ground in spring and summer.
- Children
- A beach walk with a short climb into the dunes.
- Before you set out
- The way back round the headland's rocks is for low tide only.
The walk
Park in the car park by the ruined church at Balnakeil, at the end of the little road from Durness, with the monument to the Gaelic poet Rob Donn beside it. The walk runs the length of the beach, climbs through the dunes onto Faraid Head and goes round beside the Ministry of Defence's ground to a viewpoint marked by a cairn, then comes back through the dunes. At low tide the way back can go round the rocks of the headland onto the main beach instead.
It's about 2 miles (3.5 km) each way to the cairn, about 4 miles (7 km) there and back, much of it on soft sand: allow about three hours. From October seals are often on the sands or in the bay, with waders on the shore, and with luck porpoises or even whales offshore; the puffins on the headland's cliffs are a summer sight, from about mid-May to mid-July. Keep dogs under close control, as birds nest on the ground here in spring and summer.
Bring layers: the headland catches every wind. From November to February set off by noon. On the way back to Durness, Cocoa Mountain in Balnakeil Craft Village does hot chocolate every day from March to November, 9am to 6pm; it shuts from December to February.
If it rains
There's no shelter on the beach or the headland: on a wet, wild day walk the sands as far as you like and turn back before the dunes.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Where to eat
Cocoa Mountain Balnakeil, a café in Durness.
For further reading, before you go.