Scotland’s Best Places for a Wilderness Retreat

Scotland still has big stretches of country where you can walk all day without meeting a road, a crowd or a phone signal. You don’t need to fly to Scandinavia or the Canadian Rockies for that. You just need to know which part of the map to look at.

Loch Lurgainn, Wester Ross

Here are six regions where we think the word wilderness still fits: places where you can walk for hours on your own, sleep under dark skies and feel the size of the land around you. Each has different terrain, a different level of difficulty and something different to offer.

The Northwest Highlands — Sutherland and Assynt

Sutherland fills much of Scotland’s far north-west. Few roads cross it, very few people live here, and the single-track roads that do exist link small villages along the coast.

Assynt, on Sutherland’s west coast, is the place to see it at its strangest. Suilven, Quinag and Stac Pollaidh are inselbergs: isolated peaks of Torridonian sandstone, laid down as river sand about 1,000 million years ago, standing on Lewisian gneiss that is around 3,000 million years old, the oldest rock in Britain. The North West Highlands Geopark explains how to read the rocks. The John Muir Trust looks after Quinag and keeps up the path to its summits.

The village of Lochinver makes a good base, with a handful of places to stay and eat. From there you can reach the trailheads for long days, and multi-day routes, through some of the emptiest country in Britain.

What to expect: rough paths, boggy ground, no mobile signal in many places, and plenty of rain. The views make up for all of it.

Rannoch Moor and Glencoe

Rannoch Moor is a huge spread of bog, lochans and heather. The A82 runs along its western side and the West Highland Line railway crosses it. Rannoch station sits at the very end of the B846, out on the moor, so you can step off a train straight into open country.

West of the moor lies Glencoe. It is easier to reach than most wild places, because the A82 runs through the glen, but the ridges above the road climb fast into steep, exposed ground. The Aonach Eagach ridge is a narrow scramble and no place to be caught in bad weather without scrambling experience. The National Trust for Scotland’s Glencoe page and our guide to things to do in Glencoe help you plan.

For a wilderness retreat, Rannoch for solitude and the Glencoe hills for challenge make a strong pair. Lightweight wild camping is allowed under Scotland’s access rights, as long as you follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code on camping.

The Cairngorms: The UK’s Largest National Park

At 4,528 square kilometres (about 1,750 square miles), the Cairngorms National Park is the largest national park in the UK. It holds 55 Munros, and its high plateau, over 1,000 metres above sea level, is the most extensive arctic-like area in the UK.

Unlike the north-west Highlands, the Cairngorms has plenty of infrastructure: ski slopes, visitor centres, mountain bike trails. But the plateau itself is remote and exposed. Navigating up there in poor visibility is serious, the ground is featureless and the weather changes fast.

The Lairig Ghru is the classic walk through the heart of the mountains, linking the Aviemore side with Braemar. It is a long, rough route, so go prepared and check the forecast first.

For wildlife, the Cairngorms is special: the park calls itself a stronghold for the red squirrel, and ospreys and capercaillie are among its best-known birds. If you are lucky enough to see a capercaillie, keep your distance and move on, as the park asks for all wildlife. Our Cairngorms guide has more ideas.

Torridon — Ancient Mountains in Wester Ross

Torridon is one of the most dramatic landscapes in Scotland. Its mountains, Liathach, Beinn Eighe and Beinn Alligin, are built largely of Torridonian sandstone, rock the North West Highlands Geopark dates to around 1,000 million years old. The landscape looks it.

The terrain is steep, rocky and demanding. Liathach’s ridge involves exposed scrambling and needs a good head for heights. The approaches are long and the descents hard on the knees.

The village of Torridon sits at the head of Upper Loch Torridon. The National Trust for Scotland cares for much of the glen; check its Torridon page before you go. Places to stay are few, so book ahead, especially in summer.

Just east of Torridon, the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, the UK’s first National Nature Reserve (set up in 1951), protects remnants of ancient Caledonian pine forest between Loch Maree and Glen Torridon, and it is worth a walk even if you don’t head for the tops.

The Outer Hebrides — Harris and Lewis

The Outer Hebrides are a chain of islands off Scotland’s west coast. Lewis and Harris are two parts of the same island, and they offer a very different kind of wilderness from the mainland.

Harris, in the south, has some of the finest beaches in Scotland: Luskentyre and Scarista stand out. Inland, North Harris is a block of rough, rocky hills and lochans where you can walk all day and see few people.

Lewis, in the north, is mostly low, open moor and blanket bog, and it feels exposed in a way the mainland rarely does. The Calanais Standing Stones, put up 5,000 years ago, stand in the open landscape west of Stornoway. Our Harris and Lewis guide helps you plan.

To get there, take the CalMac ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway or from Uig on Skye to Tarbert on Harris. Book vehicle space ahead. Spring and early autumn are quieter than high summer.

The Isle of Skye — More Than Its Reputation

Skye’s best-known spots, the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr and the Fairy Pools, can be busy in summer. But the island is big enough that a short walk away from them takes you into quiet country.

The Black Cuillin is the roughest mountain ground on the island: most of the main ridge needs scrambling or climbing, and many people who try the full traverse go with a mountain guide. The Red Cuillin, by contrast, is more rounded. The John Muir Trust looks after most of the Red Cuillin, Bla Bheinn and the path from Sligachan to Loch Coruisk. Read our guide to Loch Coruisk, the loch with no road to it.

The Trotternish peninsula in the north and the Sleat peninsula in the south both offer quieter walking than the central mountains. Sleat has woodland, shoreline and more sheltered conditions.

Practical Points Before You Go

Right to roam: Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 you can walk across most land and camp wild in small numbers for two or three nights in one place, as long as you act responsibly and follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Byelaws restrict camping in a few areas, so check before you pitch.

Midges: The Highland midge (Culicoides impunctatus) is a tiny biting insect that comes out in summer, worst in still, damp weather and around dawn and dusk. In July and August in the north-west, pack insect repellent and a fine-mesh head net.

Weather: Scottish mountain weather can change fast at any time of year, and snow on high ground is possible even in summer. Check the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) before heading into the hills: it gives separate forecasts for areas such as the Northwest Highlands, the West Highlands and the Cairngorms.

Bothies: Bothies are simple, unlocked shelters in remote places, many of them looked after by volunteers from the Mountain Bothies Association. They are free and first come, first served, and you leave them as clean as you found them. Read our guide to bothies before you go.

Maps: Carry a 1:25,000 map and a compass, and know how to use them. Phone GPS is a useful backup, but batteries drain fast in the cold and signal is patchy across most of the areas in this guide.

Which Part of Scotland Would You Choose?

The best wilderness retreat depends on what you are looking for. For raw solitude, Sutherland and Assynt. For dramatic ridges, Torridon or Glencoe. For wildlife, plateau walking and easier access, the Cairngorms. For wild coast, Harris.

Scotland’s access laws mean you don’t need to book a destination or pay for entry. You just need to turn up prepared, with the right kit, the right map and realistic expectations about the weather.

The wilderness is there. It’s been there for millions of years. It will wait for you to get ready.