Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CAPE WRATH
Though its name actually comes from the Norse word for 'turning point', there is something daunting and primal
about Cape Wrath, the remote northwestern point of the British mainland, crowned by a lighthouse (built by Robert
Stevenson in 1828) and standing close to the seabird colonies of
Clo Mor
, Britain's highest coastal cliffs. Getting to
Cape Wrath involves a
boat ride
(
01971-511246; return adult/child £6/4, bicycle £2; Easter-Oct)
- passen-
gers and bikes only - across the Kyle of Durness (10 minutes), connecting with an optional
minibus
(
07742-670196, 01971-511284;
www.capewrath.org.uk
;
single/return £6/10; Easter-Oct)
running 12 miles to the
cape (40 minutes). This combination is a friendly but eccentric and sometimes shambolic service with limited capa-
city, so plan on waiting in high season, and ring before setting out to make sure the ferry is running. The ferry leaves
from Keoldale pier, a couple of miles southwest of Durness, and runs two or more times daily from April to
September. It's a spectacular ride or hike to Cape Wrath over bleak scenery occasionally used by the Ministry of De-
fence as a firing range. There's a cafe at the lighthouse serving soup and sandwiches.
An increasingly popular walking route is the
Cape Wrath Trail
(
www.capewrathtrail.co.uk
)
which runs up here
from Fort William (200 miles). It's unmarked, so you may want to do it guided -
C-n-Do
(
www.cndoscotland.com
)
is one operator - or buy the
North to the Cape
guidebook (
www.cicerone.co.uk
)
.
Durness to Ullapool
Perhaps Scotland's most spectacular road trip, the 69 miles connecting Durness to Ul-
lapool is a smorgasbord of dramatic scenery, almost too much to take in. From Durness to
Rhiconich the road is almost all single track, passing through a broad heathered valley
with the looming grey bulk of Foinaven and Arkle to the southeast. Heather gives way to
a rockier landscape of Lewisian gneiss pockmarked with hundreds of small lochans, and
gorse-covered hills prefacing the magnificent Torridonian sandstone mountains of Assynt
and Coigach, including ziggurat-like Quinag, the distinctive sugarloaf of Suilven and pin-
nacled Stac Pollaidh. It's no wonder the area has been dubbed the
Northwest Highlands
Geopark
(
www.northwest-highlands-geopark.co.uk
)
.
SCOURIE & HANDA ISLAND
Scourie
(
www.scourie.co.uk
)
is a pretty crofting community conveniently located halfway
between Durness and Ullapool. A few miles north of Scourie Bay lies
Handa Island
(
www.swt.org.uk
)
, a nature reserve run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The island's west-
ern sea cliffs provide nesting sites for important breeding populations of seabirds. The
