Faraid Head and Balnakeil Beach
Circular walk
A circular dog friendly walk around Faraid Head and Balnakeil Beach. Faraid Head is a small peninsula on the northen coast of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It is located around 2 miles north of the hamlet of Balnakeil and 3 miles north of Durness. Downloadable map available here.
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Useful Information
How to get there: From Durness on the A838, follow road signs to Balnakeil, and brown tourist signs to historic church.
Grid Reference: NC 391 686
Nearest Postcode: IV27 4PX
Parking: Balnakeil car park next to ruined Balnakeil Church.
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The Walk
Explore beautiful sandy beaches and dunes.
Map with thanks to Ordnance Survey.
Walk
1 From the car park at Balnakeil, next to the ruined church. Go through the gate onto the sandy beach and cross it to the far end.
2 Take the road through the dunes. Follow the road through a gate in a stone wall.
3 The main beach will come into view on the left. Keep following the road through the dunes.
4 Upon reaching a large sandy area and the road is no longer visible, head left across to pass a stone-walled enclosure, after which the route of the road can be followed. The road climbs away from the shore, continue on the road. Before reaching a gate, turn right to follow the fence to the cliffs on the other side.
5 Follow the cliff top. After a while, you will reach a path heading to the right. Follow this to pass through the dunes to return to the road at the large sandy area on the way earlier. There are a number of paths you can take through the dunes, so keep heading ahead and to the right until you reach the path leading back to the road.
6 From here follow your earlier route backwards to Balnakeil beach and the start of the walk.
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