The Highland Clearances Trail: Following Your Ancestors’ Footsteps in Scotland

Sharing is caring!

If your family came from Scotland, there is a question you may have carried for years.

Why did they leave?

For millions of Scottish-Americans, Scottish-Canadians, and Scottish-Australians, the answer lies in the Highland Clearances. Between roughly 1750 and 1860, landlords removed entire communities from the Highlands. They replaced people with sheep. Families who had farmed the same glen for centuries were given days to pack what they could carry and go.

Many went to the coast. Many went to Canada. Some went to the United States. Some did not survive.

This Highland Clearances trail follows the places where that story happened. You can walk through the same glens. You can read the words those people left behind. If your surname connects you to the Highlands, this journey may answer the question your family has carried for generations.

What Were the Highland Clearances?

The Clearances did not happen in a single moment. They unfolded over more than a century, reaching their peak between 1810 and 1860.

The Highlands had been home to a clan system for hundreds of years. Families worked the land as tenants. They paid rent to a chief or laird. They held on to their homes through loyalty and long custom.

After the Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746, that world broke apart. The British government banned Highland dress and the carrying of weapons. It stripped the clan system of the legal protections that had kept tenants in place.

Landlords found that sheep earned more than people. A flock of Cheviot sheep could generate far more income than dozens of tenant families. One by one, valleys were cleared.

Families received notice to leave. Some got weeks. Some got days. Some came home from the fields to find their houses already burning.

Around 70,000 to 150,000 people left the Highlands during this period. Many moved to coastal strips where the soil was thin and fishing was their only livelihood. Many emigrated. Cape Breton in Nova Scotia became known as “New Scotland” in the truest sense — whole communities there still spoke Gaelic, keeping alive songs and stories that had disappeared from the homeland.

Stop One: Croick Church, Easter Ross

There is nowhere on the Highland Clearances trail quite like Croick Church.

The church sits at the head of Strathcarron valley, about 50 minutes from Inverness. It is a plain whitewashed building. The churchyard surrounds it on three sides. On the eastern window, the glass still holds the words left by people who had lost everything.

In May 1845, 92 people from the Glencalvie estate were evicted. The landowner wanted the ground for sheep. The families had nowhere else to go.

For four days, they sheltered in the churchyard of Croick Church. It was spring, but Highland nights are cold in May. They slept outside.

Before they left, some scratched messages into the window glass. One reads: “Glencalvie people was in the church-yard here May 24 1845.” Another lists family names. A third reads: “Glencalvie is a wilderness.”

A reporter from The Times travelled north to cover their plight. He wrote about families sleeping under blankets, children huddled together for warmth, elderly people who could not understand why they were being forced from their homes.

You can still read every word on that window today. Croick Church is open to visitors and free to enter. No gift shop. No entry fee. Just a quiet churchyard and glass that has held a community’s grief for nearly 180 years.

If your family came from Easter Ross, stand at that window. One of those names may be your ancestor.

Stop Two: Strathnaver, Sutherland

Strathnaver is a long valley running through the heart of Sutherland in the far north. It was home to hundreds of families connected to Clan Sutherland, Clan Gunn, and Clan MacKay. It was also the site of some of the most brutal Clearances on record.

In 1814, Patrick Sellar cleared the valley’s communities. He was the factor for the Countess of Sutherland, responsible for managing her estates. His agents burned houses. They drove off livestock. Families had days to leave.

William MacKay, a man in his nineties, died days after his home burned. His daughter-in-law was ill in bed when the fire started. Men carried her out just before the flames reached her room.

Authorities tried Sellar for culpable homicide. The jury acquitted him.

The Strathnaver Museum in the village of Bettyhill tells this story in full. It sits in a converted church and holds personal testimonies, artefacts, and maps showing exactly which families lived where before the clearances began.

Drive the length of Strathnaver on the B873 from Bettyhill. Markers point to cleared townships along the way. Rossal is the most moving: a fenced patch of low stone walls and earth mounds that once held twenty families. Sheep graze there now.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Enjoying this? 43,000 Scotland lovers get stories like this every week. Subscribe free →

Stop Three: Badbea, Caithness

Badbea is unlike anywhere else in Scotland.

The ruins of this cleared village sit on clifftops near Berriedale in Caithness, battered by wind from the North Sea. The families who came here had farmed sheltered ground further inland. Landlords pushed them to this clifftop edge to make room for sheep.

The land at Badbea was nearly useless. The wind was constant. The soil was thin. Families tethered their children and cattle to stakes in the ground to stop them blowing over the cliff into the sea below.

A cairn stands at Badbea today. Descendants of the village’s last families built it. Those families emigrated to New Zealand in 1911. The cairn lists their names — every person who called this windswept clifftop home.

To reach Badbea, follow signs off the A9 south of Berriedale. A short walk through rough grass leads to the ruins. Free to enter. Wild, windswept, and completely unforgettable.

Stop Four: Glencoe, Argyll

Most visitors to Glencoe come for the scenery. The valley is one of Scotland’s most dramatic — steep mountains, a single road, a river winding through the floor.

Glencoe holds two layers of history. The first is the 1692 massacre, when government soldiers killed 38 members of Clan MacDonald. This event is well known. The second layer is quieter.

After Culloden, Glencoe’s Highland communities slowly cleared. The valley that once held the MacDonalds and their neighbours — close to the Clan Cameron lands of Lochaber — gave way to sheep and deer grazing.

The Glencoe Visitor Centre, run by the National Trust for Scotland, covers both stories. The exhibits are thoughtful and honest. The landscape around it does the rest.

Stand at the Three Sisters viewpoint on a grey morning. Mountains rise on both sides. The valley floor stretches away into the mist. It is easy to see why people who once lived here could not forget it, even from an ocean away.

Stop Five: Knoydart Peninsula (Optional)

Knoydart is the most remote stop on this trail. No road reaches it. You must take a ferry from Mallaig or walk in across rough Highland terrain.

In 1853, Josephine MacDonell’s agents cleared most of the Knoydart peninsula. MacDonell’s men removed around 600 people and put them on ships bound for Canada. Some reached Quebec. Others went to Ontario.

The village of Inverie — the only settlement reachable by sea — is now home to around 100 people. It is one of the most isolated communities on mainland Britain. The old church and the land around it still carry the memory of what was lost.

Knoydart takes effort to reach. But if you make the journey, you find something rare: the sense that time has moved slowly here, and the land has not forgotten.

Practical Planning for the Clearances Trail

How long does it take? Allow four to five days for the full route. Croick Church and Sutherland combine well in a two-day loop from Inverness. Add Glencoe on the drive south.

When to go? Late spring (May–June) and early autumn (September–October) offer the best light and fewer cars on the roads. Summer is busy, especially in Glencoe.

Where to stay? Inverness works well as a base for the northern section. Fort William or Glencoe village for the south. Bettyhill has limited rooms — book well ahead.

Should I research my family before visiting? Yes. Spend time finding your Scottish clan records before you travel. Knowing your family’s parish or valley before you walk these roads makes every step more personal.

You may also want to plan a full Scottish heritage trip around the Clearances Trail, adding a visit to National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh or a local archive near your ancestral parish. Our 7-day Scottish ancestry itinerary includes several sites that sit naturally alongside this trail.

Why This Trail Matters

The Highland Clearances are not ancient history. They happened four to seven generations ago. Many people alive today are the direct grandchildren of those who were removed.

The effects shaped communities far from Scotland. The Gaelic-speaking towns of Cape Breton. The Scottish societies of Dunedin and Christchurch. The Presbyterian churches of rural Ontario, built by people who missed the kirkyards of Sutherland and Ross.

When you walk this trail, you are not a tourist at a heritage attraction. You may be following the exact path your own family walked — not by choice, but by force.

That is worth something.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Highland Clearances Trail in Scotland?

The Highland Clearances trail is a route connecting key sites linked to the forced removal of Highland communities between 1750 and 1860. Main stops include Croick Church in Easter Ross, Strathnaver Museum in Sutherland, Badbea ruined village in Caithness, and Glencoe in Argyll.

Where is the best starting point for the Clearances Trail?

Most visitors start in Inverness and drive north into Sutherland. Inverness has good transport links and plenty of hotels, making it the most practical base for the northern section of the trail. Croick Church is a 50-minute drive from the city and works well as the first stop.

Can you visit Badbea ruined village for free?

Yes. Badbea is free to visit and open at all times. It sits just off the A9 south of Berriedale in Caithness. A short walk from the roadside leads to the clifftop ruins and the cairn listing the names of families who emigrated to New Zealand in 1911.

What can I read on the Croick Church window?

The eastern window at Croick Church holds inscriptions scratched into the glass in May 1845 by families from the Glencalvie estate who sheltered in the churchyard after eviction. The inscriptions include family names and phrases such as “Glencalvie people was in the church-yard here May 24 1845” and “Glencalvie is a wilderness.” Both are still clearly readable today.

Which Scottish clans were most affected by the Highland Clearances?

Many clans suffered, but those in Sutherland, Caithness, Ross-shire, and the Western Isles faced the most severe removals. Families connected to Clan Sutherland, Clan MacKay, Clan Gunn, Clan Ross, and other northern clans lost their ancestral lands during this period. The knock-on effect shaped communities in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for generations.

Sharing is caring!

Secure Your Dream Scottish Experience Before It’s Gone!

Planning a trip to Scotland? Don’t let sold-out tours or packed attractions dampen your adventure. Iconic experiences like exploring Edinburgh Castle, cruising along Loch Ness, or wandering through the mystical Isle of Skye often fill up fast—especially during peak travel seasons.

Booking in advance guarantees your place and ensures you can fully immerse yourself in the rich culture and breathtaking scenery without stress or disappointment. You’ll also free up time to explore Scotland's hidden gems and savour those authentic moments that make your trip truly special.

Make the most of your journey—start planning today and secure those must-do experiences before they’re gone!