Why this ride
From Wick it runs 538 km to Wick; allow about 10 h 15 of riding. On the way it passes The Flow Country, Ring of Brogar and back through The Flow Country. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Oliclett and Ring of Brogar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 538 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 10 h 15
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Oliclett
Caithness is the flat northeastern corner of mainland Scotland, a country of big skies, peat and flagstone, and Oliclett lies in it west of Wick, among scattered farms and low fields. The soil is thin and the wind is constant, and the trees that grow bend away from the sea. But beneath it, the county is thick with prehistory: chambered cairns, standing stones and broch ruins by the hundred. The Grey Cairns of Camster, near Lybster, are among the oldest, built over five thousand years ago, and you can crawl into one of them along a low passage.
Read the complete Oliclett write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Oliclett is where the day begins. Next is The Flow Country.
2. The Flow Country
Most people who first see the Flow Country think it is empty. It is not; it is simply flat, wet and enormous, and it takes a while to understand what you are looking at. Spread across Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland, this is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, a landscape of peat built up over thousands of years, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2024. The surface is a patchwork of sphagnum mosses, cotton grass and heather, studded with countless small pools called dubh lochans that shine like broken mirrors when the sun comes out. Under your feet, the peat holds an extraordinary amount of carbon.
Read the complete The Flow Country write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Flow Country comes up 88 km in. Next is Ring of Brogar.
3. Ring of Brogar
The Ring of Brogar is a perfect circle of standing stones on a flat spit of heather between the Loch of Stenness and the Loch of Harray, about a hundred and four metres across, ringed by a rock-cut ditch. Sixty stones are thought to have stood here originally, and twenty-seven remain, some of them toppled or broken, with the tallest about four and a half metres high. It was built perhaps four and a half thousand years ago, probably a little later than Stenness, and nobody knows precisely what it was for. The suggestions range from astronomy to gathering, and standing in the middle you can believe any of them.
Read the complete Ring of Brogar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
175 km in you reach Ring of Brogar. Next is back through The Flow Country.
4. back through The Flow Country
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Flow Country write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Flow Country, late in the day. Next is Oliclett.
5. Oliclett
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oliclett write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Oliclett. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Oliclett to The Flow Country
Oliclett → The Flow Country is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Flow Country to Ring of Brogar
The Flow Country → Ring of Brogar is 111 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ring of Brogar to back through The Flow Country
Ring of Brogar → back through The Flow Country is 111 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Flow Country to Oliclett
back through The Flow Country → Oliclett is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.