Troup Head – Across the Fields to the Gannet Cliffs
About 1.8 miles on foot.
This is a walk for April to August, when the seabirds are on the cliffs.
Troup Head, between Pennan and Gardenstown on the Banff coast, holds what the RSPB calls Scotland's largest mainland gannet colony, and a farm track and a narrow clifftop path lead out to it from a small car park. It's just under two miles there and back, on rough ground beside an unfenced edge.
- Time
- About an hour and a half with time to watch the birds: 920 metres of track to the reserve gate and 550 metres of clifftop path beyond, by the RSPB's measures, which is just under two miles there and back.
- The path
- A sloping track of rough hardcore, narrow gates, steep flights of steps, then a narrow, uneven, unsurfaced path close to an unprotected cliff edge.
- Where to start
- The RSPB's car park by Northfield Farm, signed off the B9031 between Pennan and Gardenstown, AB45 3JJ. Small, with room for 20 cars in unmarked bays. Open at all hours.
- Set off
- Between April and August, on a clear day without strong wind.
- When to go
- From April to August, when the gannets and the other seabirds are nesting. The reserve is open at all hours: go on a clear day without strong wind.
- Dogs
- Under close control, for the nesting birds and the exposed cliff edges.
- Children
- Unfenced cliffs more than 90 metres high: hold on to children all the way along the top.
- Toilets
- None on the reserve. The nearest are in Banff, 11 miles away.
- Before you set out
- From April to August, for the nesting seabirds. Unfenced cliff edges and no shelter. The Northfield road is now and then shut for a few days of work.
The walk
Come between April and August: by autumn the seabirds have gone back to sea and the ledges are bare. The RSPB's car park for Troup Head is by Northfield Farm, signed off the B9031 between Pennan and Gardenstown, and AB45 3JJ is the postcode. It's small, with room for 20 cars in unmarked bays. The reserve is free to enter and open at all hours. From the car park a track of rough hardcore runs 920 metres to the reserve gate, sloping in places. The gates onto the reserve are narrow, the tightest of them 35 cm across, and there are steep flights of steps.
Beyond the gate, 550 metres of narrow, uneven, unsurfaced path run along the top of the cliffs, close to the unprotected edge in places. It comes to just under two miles there and back. The cliffs rise more than 90 metres from the sea, and more than 50,000 seabirds nest on them each year. The gannets are the reason to come, white birds packed along the ledges and wheeling off the headland, with kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and puffins among them. Bottlenose dolphins and porpoises are often seen offshore, and now and then a minke whale. There are no built viewpoints and nowhere to shelter, so dress for the wind and bring binoculars.
Keep well back from the edge, hold on to children, and keep dogs under close control for the nesting birds and the drop. It's no walk for a pushchair or a wheelchair. There are no toilets on the reserve. The nearest are in Banff, 11 miles away, and the nearest places to eat are in Gardenstown and Pennan, each about three miles off. The Northfield road is now and then shut for a few days of work, so read the RSPB's Troup Head page before setting out.
If it rains
There is nowhere to shelter and the path runs beside an unfenced drop. In rain, low cloud or a strong wind, keep it for a better day.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.