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Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

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Hiking trails & Routes

Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

Moderate

4.5

(38)

136

hikers

Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

03:19

12.3km

150m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: June 6, 2024

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

781 m

St Mary's Well (Clootie Well)

Highlight • Natural

A 'Clootie' well. This was the place of Pagan tradition where a piece of cloth was left to make a wish. A clootie is the word for 'rag', and it was also believed that the well had healing powers.

Tip by

3.66 km

Culloden Battlefield Memorial Cairn

Highlight • Monument

This stands in the battlefield of Culloden, where the Jacobite Rising ended in 1745. It is said that in less than 60 minutes over 1500 men were slain, and forever changed life in the Highlands. The National Trust for Scotland has a visitor centre nearby where you can find out more information.

Tip by

6.36 km

Clava Cairns

Highlight • Natural Monument

Clava cairns are a localized form of Late Neolithic megalithic structures in Scotland. Twelve of these only about 50 artificial round mounds are in the county of Inverness-shire. The best known and eponymous are the three not particularly large ones from Balnuaran of Clava, east of Inverness. A stray phenomenon is the cairn of Carmahome on the Isle of Arran.
Set within a circle of megalithic curbs is the mound of crushed stone, reminiscent of the layout of later Breochs. Inside is the round chamber formed by megaliths, to which a fenced corridor leads. Clava cairns are regularly surrounded by an outer stone circle that surrounds the cairn at a distance of 10-15 meters. The tiered stones of this circle, formed of relatively few stones, are at their greatest height opposite the approach to the cairn, which faces south-west. These features also appear on the Bronze Age ring cairns that occur in the same area. Therefore, it is assumed that the structural similarity points to a contemporary origin. Another context is with the stone circles on the River Dee, which are also tiered in height.
The cairns of the Balnuaran of Clava are flat and therefore, unlike the Corrimony Cairn, the passages are uncovered. Corrimony is a well-preserved specimen, set in a circle of eleven standing stones at Cannich, a few miles west of Loch Ness. A stone with cup and ring markings is also found here. Some of the stones on the grounds at Clava in Lagmore West and at the Cairn of Gask also have cups. Avielochan, about 17 km north-east of Grantown-on-Spey (Morayshire) and "Cairn Irenan", seven km north-north-west of Dingwall (Ross-shire) are more difficult to recognize specimens of the clava type because of vegetation.

Translated by Google •

Tip by

12.3 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

5.04 km

3.08 km

2.67 km

948 m

579 m

Surfaces

5.04 km

2.39 km

2.15 km

1.71 km

906 m

120 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (170 m)

Lowest point (70 m)

Weather

Sunday 12 July

18°C

8°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 15.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

June 25, 2024,Clava Cairns en Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

Very nice walk, we also visited the museum. Very worthwhile.

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December 7, 2023,Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

It was very icy today, but the paths would be very good in better weather. Interesting and informative sites on the way with the Clava cairns, Culloden battlefield and the prisoner stone on route.

September 19, 2025,Culloden Battlefield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Culloden Battlefield: This is where the Scots suffered their decisive defeat against the British in 1746. Afterward, the Scottish independence ended. An impressive historical site, where numerous information panels vividly retell the gruesome events of the battle.
Balnuaran of Clava: Just 2km further, we were transported 4,000 years into the past. Four large cairns and three stone circles give this …

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Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield — Inverness

St Mary's Well (Clootie Well)

Culloden Battlefield Memorial Cairn

Clava Cairns

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