Skinsdale and Stones of Stenness

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Skinsdale

   Nobody lives in Skinsdale to speak of, which is more or less the point. The glen lies in the east of Sutherland, an empty fold of moorland and burn between the coast at Brora and Helmsdale and the great open bog country to the north-west, and the nearest towns of any size, Golspie, Brora and Dornoch, are all over twenty kilometres away. A road passes through this part of the country, but the glen itself is a place you look into rather than ride through.

   Read the complete Skinsdale write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Skinsdale is where the day begins. Next is The Flow Country.

2. 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 60 km in. Next is Munsary & Shielton.

3. 3. 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

   121 km in you reach Munsary & Shielton. Next is Stones of Stenness.

4. 4. 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

   Stones of Stenness, about halfway. Next is back through Munsary & Shielton.

5. 5. 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 sits at 241 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Flow Country.

6. 6. 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 comes up 302 km in. Next is Skinsdale.

7. 7. Skinsdale

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Skinsdale write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Skinsdale closes the day.