I went to see the Bone Caves at Inchnadamph during my recent route of the North Coast 500. I didn’t include a detailed report on the caves in my article on the North Coast 500 because of all the other things I did, yet this felt unfair as they were such a memorable part of the trip! Below is a small report on this hidden treasure in the north of Scotland that I thoroughly recommend you explore.
What are the Bone Caves?
The Bone Caves at Inchnadamph are a series of caves, positioned about 200ft high on a limestone cliff, which were found to contain the remains of Eurasian lynx, brown bear, Arctic fox, reindeer, the only evidence of polar bear ever found in Scotland and human skeletons from 3000 B.C.E. These discoveries were made late in the 19th century and in the early 20th century.
This is a fascinating historic site and while you won’t see any bones in the caves it is well worth a visit. The walk is about 3 miles, the scenery is beautiful and the caves are very atmospheric.
Starting Off
The Information Board at the Car Park
The walk has a decent sized car-park that is completely FREE and the notice board sits at a small gate that marks the start of the walk. To your right, the Allt nan Uamh river flows which, when it has been raining, can become quite spectacular: especially when you reach the waterfall!
The Waterfall
The Walk
The route is a small track that is really quite rocky at points (sturdy footwear essential!) and is quite easy to navigate. Once you approach the caves, the path will swing to the right and becomes quite steep as the caves are in an elevated position: you will end up quite high up looking over the glen. The views alone from the position are worth the effort.
The Track Winds Along
Looking up to the Caves
Arriving at the Caves
Very Atmospheric!
One thing I loved was the water, which runs down the rock-face and drips down to the caves. Standing high on the hillside, looking down the little glen and listening to the dripping, was beautiful and well worth the small effort to get there.
If you do the North Coast 500 you have a lot of options for what to see, where to go and what to do. It would be easy to overlook the Inchnadamph bone caves but I’d highly recommend you fit them in to your tour. They are a fascinating thing to see and will definitely make for an interesting story when you get home!
To read my guide to the North Coast 500, click HERE.