A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal and Stones of Stenness

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal

   There is a particular silence on the A836 above Altnaharra, and this stretch of it is the best place to notice it. The road here is single track with passing places, running north from Lairg toward the Kyle of Tongue, with Loch Loyal laid out beside it and the four-peaked ridge of Ben Loyal standing over the water. Hope is the other half of the name, Ben Hope, the northernmost Munro, which you will have glimpsed already as a long flat-topped wall to the north-west.

   Read the complete A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal is where the day begins. Next is Munsary & Shielton.

2. 2. Munsary & Shielton

   Inland from Wick, in the far north-east of Scotland, the land flattens into a vast, rolling expanse of peat bog, brown and gold, dotted with pools and lochans that reflect the sky. Munsary and Shielton are areas of this blanket bog, part of the Flow Country, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2024 as the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe. Here, sphagnum mosses have built up peat over thousands of years, storing vast amounts of carbon, and the bog teems with life: insect-eating sundews, cotton grass waving white in summer, and birds such as golden plover, greenshank and dunlin nesting among the hummocks.

   Read the complete Munsary & Shielton write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Munsary & Shielton comes up about 113 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stones of Stenness.

3. 3. Stones of Stenness

   At the southern end of the narrow neck of land between Loch Harray and Loch Stenness, four tall stones stand against the sky. They are all that is left of a circle that may have had twelve, laid out around 3000 BC, which makes it among the oldest stone circles in Britain. The tallest stone is over five metres, thin as a blade, cut from the local flagstone that splits into slabs, and the whole group has the stern, upright look of something that has stood a long time in the wind. Inside the circle are traces of a central hearth, and archaeologists have found bones of cattle from feasts.

   Read the complete Stones of Stenness write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 217 km into the recorded legs you reach Stones of Stenness. Next is back through Munsary & Shielton.

4. 4. back through Munsary & Shielton

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Munsary & Shielton write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Munsary & Shielton, late in the day. Next is A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal.

5. 5. A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at A’Mhoine-Hope-Loyal. That is the ride.