This particular area of Scotland sells itself, as far as driving goes, as the “Scottish Route 66”.
Today’s travels were pretty similar to yesterday as we made our way to our next stop in Thurso and nearby John O’Groats – the northern most point on the mainland.
As I mentioned yesterday, the Northcoast 500 is a loop road in the very north pocket of Scotland and generally has Inverness as the start/finish point for the tour.
This detail to the left is the general path of the drive “as advertised” and we have modified this to suit our tastes. The lady who served us at breakfast in Thurso the next day pretty much summed up the situation as far as getting tourists in the area “put a name on it and it will sell” 😂 – she said they had certainly noticed the increased numbers in the area because of it.
We have certainly found in the last day or so that this part of the country seems to have less tourists and traffic – at least at this time of the year. That said, there are still a few hardy campervan drivers navigating the roads – and a number of cyclists undertaking the gruelling uphill treks – how they call that a “holiday” I’ll never know !
We had a tasty breakfast with a window seat overlooking the bay, then set off again – not far to our first stop at the Falls of Measach in Corrieshalloch Gorge. We took a short winding path down to the gorge where a suspension bridge crosses and there are views of the falls in the gorge. On the other side of the bridge, there is a walk down the gorge a bit further to a viewing platform back up the gorge.
Suspension bridge at Corrieshalloch Gorge
Further on we had a brief stop at Knockan Crag Nature Reserve which lies within the North West Highlands Geopark.
As we drove further along, at one point a loud “rumbling” noise started and we both thought “that road surface sounds very rough”! We then realised that it was in fact a low flying aircraft swooping past – during our conversations in Dalmally we were told this area along the north coast is a training area for all the armed forces – army, navy and airforce.
A quick stop at Knockan Crag Reserve
Ardvrek Castle was our next stop – another ruined castle on a small peninsula on Loch Assynt. There must be so many castles in the UK, ruined and otherwise, however the ruined ones certainly have a character to them ! We thought this might be a good spot for the drone however as I set it up I got a warning message that we were in a “restricted zone” -presumably the armed forces training area. There was an option to “accept the T&C’s” however we couldn’t seem to clear this information off the screen which made it a bit hard to see the controls. We decided not to risk it and stuck to photos instead.
Ardvrek Castle
The next section was a combination of coastal waters and cross country and the landscape varied from picturesque hidden sea coves to moon like tundra and all the while the “single track road” continued.
On the road to Smoo Cave
Next stop was on the coast and a spot called Smoo Cave, near Durness. There is a walkway down into a protected cove and this then heads into a cave under the headland with a waterfall tumbling down from above. The cave has formed from weakness in the limestone rock and is fed both from an underground stream as well as a nearby loch. Rain and even wind forcing water along the loch can effect the water levels in the cave.
We had another go with the drone here – despite the “restricted zone” warning, flying it by sight rather than the display. Not being able to see where the drone was flying created some interesting movements in the footage ! 😂
Smoo Cave – looking from above the cave to the sea
One of the peaceful, beautiful beaches we passed along the coast
From here it was a good couple of hours to Thurso, our stop for the next 2 nights. At least some of this section was proper 2 lane roads so we managed to cover the miles a bit quicker. As we were away on Orkney for most of tomorrow, we decided to stop into the B&B at Thurso and checkin and then went out again to go on to John O’Groats, the fabled most northeasterly point on the mainland (in fact nearby Dunnet Head is actually further north).
It is however the end/start of the “End to End” route – from John O’Groats in the north to Land’s End on the Cornwall peninsula in the south. The settlement takes its name from Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had recently been acquired from Norway by King James IV. Local legend has that the “o’ Groats” refers to John’s charge of one groat for use of his ferry, but it actually derives from the Dutch de groot, meaning “the large”. People from John O’ Groats are known as “Groaters”. (And of course there was an obligatory bagpiping busker to cap off the scene 😂)
We made it to John O’Groats !
Our B&B is right on the edge of town and has a great view across the sea to Orkney. We wandered down into town for dinner and, at the recommendation of the owner of the B&B, tried out the Red Pepper restaurant at the pub. very nice local seafood for dinner !
Tomorrow we are off to Orkney for the day on the ferry !
Today’s Tour Trivia – Thurso is the northernmost town on the British mainland