Best Hidden Gems in Wester Ross & Sutherland
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best hidden gems in Wester Ross & Sutherland are Kylesku Bridge, Clachtoll Broch, Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Old Man of Stoer, Split Rock Clachtoll, Balnakeil Church, Calda House and Dun Canna.
Wester Ross and Sutherland take in some of the wildest and most beautiful country in the far north-west of Scotland, where mountains fall to sea lochs, ancient forts cling to rocky shores, and single-track roads follow the coast of the North Coast 500. This is a region for those who love remote places, from Iron Age brochs and cliff-top sea stacks to ruined mansions and roofless churches set against the hills.
Many of its finest sights ask for a walk to reach them, whether the short crossing to Split Rock at Clachtoll or the long path into Coire Mhic Fhearchair beneath Beinn Eighe. Others, like the sweeping Kylesku Bridge, sit right beside the road for all to admire.
Along the way you can find the Old Man of Stoer rising offshore, the burned shell of Calda House by Loch Assynt, and the legend-haunted ruin of Balnakeil Church near Durness. Here are eight of the best hidden gems to seek out in Wester Ross & Sutherland.
Kylesku Bridge
Photo: Carron K via Geograph.org.uk
Kylesku Bridge is a graceful, curving concrete bridge carrying the road over the narrows where two sea lochs meet at Kylesku, in the far north-west of Sutherland. Opened in 1984, it replaced the old ferry across the water and sweeps around in a long curve on tall, slender piers.
It has become one of the best-loved sights on the North Coast 500, with mountains and water framing the bridge on every side. Seek it out and pause at the viewpoints to take in its elegant curve.
Clachtoll Broch
Photo: Gordon Hatton via Geograph.org.uk
Clachtoll Broch is an Iron Age drystone tower standing on a rocky shore at Clachtoll in Assynt, facing out across the Minch. Its thick circular walls still rise several courses high, with the low entrance passage and parts of the internal stair gallery visible.
A recent excavation cleared and stabilised the structure, which had been threatened by storm erosion at the cliff edge. Digging found the interior sealed by an ancient fire that ended its use around two thousand years ago.
Seek it out for a striking piece of Iron Age building right by the sea.
Coire Mhic Fhearchair
Photo: Alan Reid via Geograph.org.uk
Coire Mhic Fhearchair is a large mountain corrie high on the north side of the Beinn Eighe range in Torridon, widely held to be one of the finest in Scotland. A lochan lies on its floor beneath the Triple Buttress, three steep rock towers rising in a curved wall, their lower part dark Torridonian sandstone and their upper part paler Cambrian quartzite.
It is reached only on foot, a walk of around nine miles there and back on a stalkers' path from Glen Torridon, with most walkers stopping at the lochan shore. Seek it out with proper hill gear for one of Torridon's great corries.
Old Man of Stoer
Photo: Dave Croker via Geograph.org.uk
Old Man of Stoer is a sea stack of Torridonian sandstone standing just offshore below the cliffs of the Stoer peninsula in Assynt, about sixty metres tall. It is reached by a clifftop walk of some five miles round from the car park at Stoer lighthouse, past headlands loud with fulmars and guillemots, with seals and sometimes whales in the water.
The stack sits across a narrow channel and can be reached at its base only by climbers, who cross on a rope traverse. It was first climbed in 1966.
Seek it out for a bracing coastal walk to a dramatic sea stack.
Split Rock Clachtoll
Photo: Gordon Hatton via Geograph.org.uk
Split Rock Clachtoll is a striking sea stack of red Torridonian sandstone standing in the bay at Clachtoll, in Assynt on the far north-west coast of Sutherland, with a deep cleft splitting it in two that gives the place its Gaelic name. In calm weather it can be reached across the rocks from the beach, a small, sheltered cove of white sand and clear turquoise water on the North Coast 500.
There are toilets and a ranger hut by the beach, and the remains of an Iron Age broch stand a little way along the coast. Seek it out on a calm day for the beach and its cloven stack.
Balnakeil Church
Photo: Graham Hogg via Geograph.org.uk
Balnakeil Church stands as a roofless ruin in a walled graveyard above Balnakeil Bay, near Durness. The present church was built in 1619 and fell out of use two centuries later, so what remains is bare stone walls with crow-stepped gables, open to the sky and hung with ivy, looking out over the dunes and the sea.
Set into one wall is a carved tomb, dated 1623, cut with the figure of an archer, a ship and a skull, belonging to a local man wrapped in dark legend. The graveyard also holds a monument to the Gaelic poet Rob Donn.
Seek it out for its lonely setting and its old stories.
Calda House
Photo: Carron K via Geograph.org.uk
Calda House is a ruined mansion on the shore of Loch Assynt in Sutherland, close to the older ruin of Ardvreck Castle. It was built in the seventeen-twenties by the Mackenzies of Assynt as a comfortable modern home, to replace the cold old tower of Ardvreck nearby.
Its life was short: in 1737 it was burned down, by tradition set alight by the family's own supporters to keep it from rival hands, and never rebuilt. What remains is a roofless, gaunt shell of grey stone, standing alone by the loch with the hills behind, reached by the same short walk from the road as Ardvreck.
Seek it out for a bleak, atmospheric spot by the water.
Dun Canna
Photo: wrobison via Geograph.org.uk
Dun Canna is an Iron Age fort on a rocky coastal promontory north of Ullapool, near the mouth of the River Runie on Loch Kanaird. Massive drystone walls once ringed the headland, now reduced to broad bands of tumbled rubble across the neck of the point.
Quarrying and landslip have worn the site down, and a later stone cottage was built into the fallen stone. It is a remote, unmarked spot reached only on foot.
Seek it out for a quiet coastal fort well off the beaten track.
FAQs
What are the best hidden gems in Wester Ross and Sutherland?
Standout sights include Kylesku Bridge on the North Coast 500, Clachtoll Broch and Split Rock in Assynt, the Old Man of Stoer sea stack, and the ruins of Calda House and Balnakeil Church. Coire Mhic Fhearchair in Torridon adds one of Scotland's finest mountain corries.
How do I reach the Old Man of Stoer?
The Old Man of Stoer is reached by a clifftop walk of some five miles round from the car park at Stoer lighthouse. The sea stack sits across a narrow channel, and only climbers can reach its base by crossing on a rope traverse.
Can you reach Split Rock at Clachtoll?
Split Rock stands in the bay at Clachtoll and can be reached across the rocks from the beach in calm weather. There are toilets and a ranger hut by the beach, and the remains of an Iron Age broch stand a little way along the coast.
Conclusion
Wester Ross and Sutherland reward those who travel far and walk a little further. This is a corner of Scotland where Iron Age brochs and forts stand on lonely shores, where sea stacks like the Old Man of Stoer and Split Rock rise from clear water, and where ruined homes and churches such as Calda House and Balnakeil tell of harder times.
Some of these places sit right on the North Coast 500, like the elegant sweep of Kylesku Bridge, while others, such as Coire Mhic Fhearchair beneath Beinn Eighe, ask for a long mountain walk. Wherever you go, the mountains and the sea are never far away, and the sense of remoteness is part of the reward.
For anyone drawn to wild landscapes and ancient stone, these are the best hidden gems to seek out in Wester Ross & Sutherland.
