Distance: 238 km Grade: 4 (Hard)
With Heritage Path! (GPX)
A Stile on the Coast Path in Caithness, Scottish Highlands
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Andrew Tryon - geograph.org.uk/p/6346365
Description:
A 14 stage hard and long walk. This trail ( under development!) has pathless, but well signed sections calling for careful navigation and there is scree and minor scrambling. Starting from Inverness (Link with the Great Glen Way / Loch Ness 360) the trail crosses the Black Isle to Alness and then to Tain in Easter Ross, before crossing the firth to the small town of Dornoch. From there it is a coastal walk, first to Golspie and Brora, and than through Helmsdale, Dunbeath and Lybster en route for Wick. From Wick the cliffs continue until the broad sweep of Sinclair's Bay leads to Keiss and a grand and majestic clifftop finale leads to Duncansby Head - the most northeasterly point of the UK mainland. John o' Groats is than just around the corner.
Warning!: Please beware that there are some serious obstacles. Some stages currently require barbed wire fence crossing, stone wall climbing, river fording, boulder scrambling, and strenuous walking through summer vegetation. Also beware that much of the walk is along clifftops.
Stages:
- Inverness - Culbokie 24 km (Slightly harder)
- Culbokie - Alness 14,75 km (Easy)
- Alness - Tain 21 km (Slightly harder)
- Tain - Dornoch 14 km (Slightly harder)
- Dornoch - Golspie 22 km (Moderate)
- Golspie - Brora 10 km (Slightly harder)
- Brora - Helmsdale 20,5 km (Moderate)
- Helmsdale - Berriedale 14,5 km (Hard)
- Berriedale - Dunbeath 10,25 km (Moderate)
- Dunbeath - Lybster 14,25 km (Moderate)
- Lybster - Whaligoe 12 km (Hard)
- Whaligoe - Wick 17,25 km (Moderate)
- Wick - Keiss 17 km (Moderate)
- Keiss - John o' Groats 21,5 km (Moderate)
Heritage Path (on the map):
Link up with the Cape Wrath Trail and the Scottish National Trail.