Durness

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Durness with Smoo Cave, the youth-hostel is up on the right side.

Sango Bay.

Durness (Diuranais in Gaelic) is a remote township in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland, lying on the Kyle of Durness. There is only one single track road in and one road out of the village. The main sources of employment in the village are crofting and tourism. It is the largest village in the northwestern corner of Scotland (with a population of around 400 residents) on the main A836-A838 road between the towns of Thurso (116 km / 72 miles to the east) and Ullapool (109 km / 68 miles to the south). This area is notable for being the most sparseley populated region in Western Europe.

The main attractions in Durness are Smoo Cave, a sea cave with a small river running through it and a waterfall in wet weather, unspolit beaches backed by cliffs, and the surrounding sea birds, seals, porpoises and minke whales. The surrounding coastline is some of Europe's most isolated and spectacular, with the nearby Clo Mor Cliffs being the highest on the British mainland, at some 281m (921 ft) high.

Tourists are catered for by a campsite spectacularly sited on the cliffs above the beach (with easy access down to the beach), a hostel ,bed & breakfast accommodation, and by a hotel.

In the substantial sand dunes to the north of the village, a large colony of puffins can be approached to within less than 10 metres, offering superb opportunity for wildlife photography.

Another tourist spot is the local Craft Village, a rather picturesque old RAF radar base from the Cold War era. The villagers mainly live sustainably and there is a community ethos There are some rather wonderful and eccentric characters selling arts and crafts goods and is an interesting stop for potential visitors.

There is also a surprising diversity in the area with many different nationalities, sexual orientation and race in a rather remote area. Although being a former seat of the Clan Mackay, there is a large contingent of the Clan Morrison in the area which causes some in the locale to question the idea of calling the area “Mackay Country”.

Some miles to the north west lies a military firing range known as Garvie Range used by RAF, Royal Navy and USAF aircraft. A rocky islet resembling a ship is used for bombing practice. Although explosions can be heard, and seen with binoculars, they are sufficiently far away to avoid disturbing the colonies of sea birds.

A few miles east of Durness lies Loch Eriboll, known for its otters and minke whales. During World War II it was used to station naval troops, and the island in its centre was used as a bombing target as it resembles a battleship. The loch is sometimes used as a safe harbour by large ships during stormy weather.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force built a Chain Home radar station at Sango near Durness. There was also a Chain Home Low radar station at Sango. After the war there was also a ROTOR radar station near Durness part of which is used by the modern military range and the accommodation area is used for various crafts.

The village is also used as a base by visitors to Cape Wrath.