The Singing Sands – A Forest Track to a White Beach
About 6.1 miles on foot.
The Singing Sands is a white beach on the north coast of Ardnamurchan, shut in by forest and rocky headlands, with the Small Isles on the horizon.
Its Gaelic name is Camas an Lighe, and it's known for the sound the dry sand can make underfoot. No road goes near it. The usual way in is a track from Arivegaig, round the shore of Kentra Bay and through the forest at Gortenfern: just under 10 km there and back, on easy ground all the way.
- Time
- Two and a half to three and a half hours: 9.8 km there and back on gravel and forest track. A long, easy walk.
- The path
- Gravel and forest track, then a short path down through trees and heath to the sand.
- Where to start
- A small gravel car park at the end of the public road at Arivegaig, west of Acharacle. No overnight parking for caravans.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 11.30am to be back in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11.30am.
- Dogs
- On a lead: sheep and deer are about.
- Children
- Flat and easy but long for small legs; keep children on the track through the forest.
- Toilets
- The nearest public toilets are in Acharacle.
- Before you set out
- Signs in the forest warn of unexploded munitions from wartime training: keep to the track and the beach.
The walk
The walk starts from the small gravel car park at the end of the public road at Arivegaig, west of Acharacle. Caravans may not stay overnight. Acharacle is on the A861, which comes south from the A830 at Lochailort, so no ferry is needed to get here. Wild Lochaber, the local guide to these peninsulas, measures the walk at 9.8 km there and back and grades it moderate. Walkhighlands allows two and a half to three and a half hours. It's gravel and forest track nearly all the way and easy to follow.
The first part runs beside Kentra Bay, a wide inlet that empties to mudflats and salt marsh at low tide. Curlew, oystercatcher and wigeon feed there, and sometimes an otter. Then the track climbs gently through a spruce plantation, and a signed path drops to the beach. Signs in the forest warn of unexploded munitions, because this coast was used for commando training in the Second World War. Keep to the track and the beach, and leave any metal object alone. The sand is pale and fine between outcrops of dark rock, and on a dry day it can squeak or sing as you walk across it.
The sandy bays further east are reached only over rough, boggy ground with no clear path. There are no toilets on the way, and the nearest are in Acharacle. Sheep and deer are about, so keep dogs on a lead. From November to January, set off by 11.30am.
If it rains
The track is firm in any weather and the forest gives some shelter, but it's a long way to walk to a beach in the rain. Keep it for a dry day, when the sand has a chance of singing.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Borradill House in Glenborrodale, 5 miles away. Sleeps 6; next free Sun 15 Nov to Tue 17 Nov.
Then Borradill Cottage, 5 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Sun 29 Nov to Tue 1 Dec.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Anna A via Google