Duncansby Head Lighthouse – Duncansby Stacks loop from Duncansby Head

00:24

1.36km

40m

Hiking

Easy hike. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 27, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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50 m

Duncansby Head Lighthouse

Highlight • Monument

Duncansby Head is the north east tip of Scotland, near the village of John o' Groats. A lighthouse built in 1924 stands on the steep cliffs. Duncansby Head is particularly spectacular because of its rugged rock formations and rock needles, the so-called Duncansby Stacks. Many rare seabirds nest in the cliffs, including puffins.
Muckle Skerry is an island in the Orkneys seven kilometers north-east of Duncansby Head.

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207 m

Duncansby Trig Point

Highlight • Summit

728 m

Duncansby Stacks

Highlight • Natural Monument

Duncansby Stacks are one of Scotland’s best natural phenomena - and they are easy to view during a hiking tour close to John o’ Groats!

Duncansby Stacks are two visually-impressive 60 m high sea stacks (offshore pinnacles of steep-sided rock) located to the immediate south of Duncansby Head (the most northeasterly part of the British mainland) in Caithness. A third rock promontory called Thirle Door is in the process of becoming a stack but still remains attached to the mainland.

The offshore stacks are remnants of where the coastline used to be. They were formed by sea and storm weathering and have existed for at least 6000 years. The stacks are made of a coarse-grained sandstone rock that dates from the Devonian geological era 385 million years ago. The tallest stack is called the Great Stack and is actually higher than the nearby mainland.

The grassy path that descends south from Duncansby Head and the Geo of Sclaites provides superb views of the Duncansby Stacks and of the Thirle Door arch! The two stacks and Thirle Door will appear nearly-aligned in a row.

An additional highlight of viewing Duncansby Stacks is that - depending upon season - you may see them covered by large seabird colonies.

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