Sandwood Bay

Sandwood Bay, Looking North Towards Cape Wrath

Sandwood Bay is the most magnificent beach in the UK. It offers over two kilometers of wide pinkish sand backed by huge sand dunes and a loch, and is flanked by cliffs and an impressive sea stack. It faces north west, straight into the teeth of the worst the North Atlantic can throw at it. For majesty and grandeur, there's simply nowhere that can beat Sandwood Bay.

Sandwood Bay, Looking South Path to Sandwood Bay South End on a Gloomy Day Walkers Am Buachaille

One of the things that keeps Sandwood Bay so very special is that no one gets here without expending some real effort first. The nearest approach by public road is at Blairmore, a few miles north west of Kinlochbervie and four miles short of Sandwood Bay itself.

Long gone are the days when you either parked on the verge or took your chances driving as far as you could along the deteriorating track north towards Sandwood Bay. Now you leave your car in the car park at Blairmore and go through the gate opposite on foot.

North End on a Gloomy Day

Sandwood Cottage

The track to Sandwood Bay is four miles long, and has little to commend it save the knowledge that it is taking you to the best beach in the country. It's a gently undulating moorland walk punctuated by lochs and lochans. The land rises behind the cliffs to the west and you get no view of the sea. Views to the east extend distantly to Cranstackie, and south east to Foinaven. But for the most part, this is simply four miles you need to cover.

There are no false summits on a fairly flat walk like this. But as your expectations grow, the final stretch of the approach to Sandwood Bay always takes longer than you expect. You know when you are almost there when the path passes between two wooden stakes in the ground. Shortly afterwards you crest a rise and the sound of the sea hits you at the same time as you see the views across Sandwood Loch and over to the northern end of Sandwood Bay. Then it's simply a matter of crossing the remaining open ground and the expanse of dunes to get to the beach itself.

If you can bring yourself to look to your right as you begin the last descent towards the bay, you'll see the roofless remains of Sandwood Cottage. And you might want to watch out for the ghost of a mariner who used to knock at the windows of the cottage on stormy nights. According to one story he is all that remains of an Armada galleon that foundered here complete with its treasure and which, it is said, is still buried in the sand dunes awaiting discovery. Another version dresses him in a cap and mariner's reefer jacket and has him walking the dunes.

In his book "Highways and Byways in the West Highlands" published in 1935, Seton Gordon says "I was astonished at the number of wrecks which lie on the fine sand of this bay. All of them are old tragedies: since the placing of a lighthouse on Cape Wrath just over a hundred years ago no vessel has been lost here. Some of the vessels lie almost buried in the sand far above the reach of the highest tide."

You might have come to Sandwood Bay to sit on a rock and watch the sea, to explore the beach, dunes and loch, or to search for Seton Gordon's wrecks (we've never found any). Or you might have come to explore the cliffs to the north and south or while en route to Cape Wrath. Whatever your reasons, you'll know that even on a busy day you'll have plenty of space to enjoy this wonderful place in the company of, at most, a few like minded souls who have also trekked four miles to be here.

And, when you return to the car park, keep a look out for the donation box placed there by the Bay's owners, the John Muir Trust. Helping them helps keep this special place special.