The Yesnaby Coastal Walk has to be one of the best walks on mainland Orkney, if not the best. You stick close to the cliff line the majority of the way with far reaching sea views and hundreds of soaring seabirds. But it’s the sea stacks and rock arches that make this walk truly special.
Slender pillars of rock that have weathered away over time stand sentry over rocky bays and inlets, while nearby sea arches await the same fate.
The stacks are reminiscent of the Old Man of Hoy, but to see them doesn’t require a ferry and nor will you have to share the experience with anyone else. As soon as we got past the main stack at the start of the walk, we didn’t see another soul (and we hiked in August, when you would expect it to be at its busiest).
Here’s exactly what to expect from the trail.
The Yesnaby Coastal Walk
The stats
Distance: 4.7 miles (7.6km) one way, but you can shorten it easily
Elevation gain: 405m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Trailhead: Yesnaby Coast Walk Car Park
Parking spot to make it a one way walk: 58.9758303, -3.3473007
Summary: The route we are describing is a one way route and we used a car shuffle so we didn’t have to walk back. If that’s not an option, you could obviously just walk the full route back again, but the latter part of the walk is not as interesting and I would probably recommend turning around at the final sea stack which is at the 2.5 mile (4km) mark.
The rest of the walk is really just a traverse along grassy tracks to the road and missing it will not detract from your experience.
In terms of difficulty, there is a reasonable amount of elevation gain across the whole walk, but while there are a few sections which feel like you are climbing a hill, it’s rarely steep. It’s more a gradual creep in elevation gain throughout.
The paths are mainly grass or dirt and it was mercifully almost entirely bog free on our visit which was following many days of heavy rain. It might decline in the cooler months, but it’s certainly not a bog fest like many other Scottish walks we did in the same time period!
There are no scrambly sections or rough terrain, but it is uneven much of the time. The best views are from close to the cliff edges so care needs to be taken if there are high winds as there is no fencing.
Starting the trail: to Yesnaby Castle
This is not one of those walks which takes a while to get to the good stuff, the car park is just 200m away from the first rock arch and the sea views begin immediately.
From the car park you head downhill, either on the worn dirt path or more directly on shale to reach the first view over the arch.
You can walk over the arch, which is wide and stable, but the best view of it is 130m further along the track, which offers a more interesting perspective.
The track continues with the sea on your right and fields on your left, passing a standing stone at the 500m mark.
Roughly 250m further on you’ll reach a junction where continuing straight would take you on the short detour to the Brough of Bigging, where you are supposed to be able to see as far as The Old Man of Hoy on a clear day.
Unfortunately for us, Hoy was under a thick layer of fog and the winds were howling so we skipped the detour, but on a clear day I am sure it would be very much worth doing.
Heading left at the junction will see you continue on the main path. There’s a bit of an incline before you arrive at a very impressive sea arch 350m beyond the junction.
The rock between the cliff and the sea stack is pretty narrow so it will one day turn into one of the solitary stacks, but for now it’s a picturesque arch. The castle is less than 100m further on (roughly 0.75 miles/1.2km from the car park).
Yesnaby Castle
Yesnaby Castle is one of the coolest sea stacks we have ever seen. The pillar has a large window in its lower section which makes it stand out from all the rest. It was incredibly photogenic with calm seas, but I can imagine it would look even more dramatic when the swell is up.
It’s also easy to view it from several angles and whereas when you first see it, it looks quite wide, as you come round to the other side it looks really narrow, like a completely different stack.
It almost feels like an optical illusion as it goes from wide with a window, to narrow, to so slender you can’t possibly believe it’s the same rock and back to wide with a window again! I think the very best view is the final one after you’ve rounded the corner because this is where the window can be seen most clearly.
We weren’t visiting Orkney at the right time to witness the incredible sea bird colonies at their peak, but despite that there were still plenty of fulmars gliding around the castle as well as the odd kittiwake and bonxie.
If you were to turn around at this point you would still have done one of the very best walks mainland Orkney has to offer.
If you have the time to go further though you will experience more of the fabulous cliff line and reach another amazing sea stack which is far enough from the nearest car park to be very rarely visited.
Continuing along the cliffs to The Needle
The next part of the walk continues hugging the cliff line which is peppered with ominous looking sea caves. The bird life even in August continued to impress and we were lucky enough to get very close to an Arctic skua which is quite rare to find in Scotland.
Watching the fulmars hover on the updrafts and dart back and forth to the crevices in the cliffs was a real highlight of the walk for us, I can only imagine what it would be like in peak season when seabird numbers rise into the tens of thousands along Orkeny’s coastline.
As you make your way along the worn track it’s a mix of gentle climbing and flat track. At times there are a couple of different paths, one sticking close to the edge while one heads slightly inland. Sticking closely to the cliffs adds on a little distance but obviously offers all the best views.
The cliffs are increasingly dramatic and looking down into the gaping cave mouths gave a real sense of foreboding. We love exploring sea caves but these ones definitely looked like they were straight out of a shipwreck disaster novel.
Just beyond the castle you’ll pass through a gate and a few hundred metres later was the only notable boggy section of track (1 mile/1.7km into the walk). It was very minor by Scottish standards, though I assume it would probably expand somewhat in the cooler months.
At the 1.6 mile mark (2.5km) there’s a particularly good sea cave far below you, and a few hundred metres later it’s best to stick to the outer path as this will give you some great close up views of some of the bigger sea caves and cliffs favoured by the nesting seabirds.
The track continues in much the same way, with gentle ups and downs as well as plenty of flat track until you reach the final sea stack, which we unoriginally named ‘The Needle’. It didn’t have a name on our map so we’ll stick with it unless someone corrects us otherwise!
It’s a very impressive stack and not one we had ever heard of so it came as something of a surprise and it was hard to believe that we had it all to ourselves! It looks even more svelte as you pass by and view it from another angle.
It’s worth noting the track here is very narrow and on a windy day it did feel like you needed to plant your feet very carefully.
In calm conditions I wouldn’t have blinked at it, but in high winds it was a bit more exhilarating! If it’s too narrow for you or too windy you can climb up the grassy verge behind the path and avoid this slightly sketchy section altogether - and it’s really only a very short section.
If you don’t have a car shuffle and want to shorten the walk, this is the point at which I would recommend turning around. It’s 2.5 mile (4km) in, so a return walk from here is 5 miles (8km) as opposed to about 8.4 miles (13.5km) if you go all the way to the lighthouse.
You have seen all the stacks and arches by now so by turning here you aren’t really missing out on anything. To reach the lighthouse you continue for another 1.7 miles (2.7km), to reach the road and the first possible parking point it’s another 0.6 miles (1km) further on.
Completing the walk
Roughly 350m beyond The Needle you’ll turn slightly inland and follow the grassy track to a small bridge, 550m away. It’s a little bit rocky as you head down to the creek and bridge, but only for a few steps.
Along the next section of track you can see the final hill (Black Crag) the lighthouse sits on, (and incase you were picturing a pretty red and white lighthouse, that’s not the case, it’s more like a stout white beacon), though it’s still quite far away.
You’ll also see the island of Hoy, though for us the top of it was under a permanent wall of fog. You can still see the sea, but you’re no longer closely following the cliff line.
Roughly 3.5 miles (5.7km) in, the track will head more noticeably uphill and it continues this way until you reach the lighthouse. It’s not overly steep, but you can feel you are climbing a bit now. When you reach the fork, 3.7 miles (5.9km) in, take the left path heading further away from the cliffs.
The lighthouse is an 800m climb away, and again, if you don’t have a car shuffle then turn here because the final section is just a traverse to the road.
Otherwise to get to the parking point you climb over a stile to reach the lighthouse and then turn left, heading downhill along the fenceline to the road which you will be able to see in the distance.
You’ll reach the road after a 400m descent and from here the nearest place you could park your car (which is still only a lay-by) is 450m away.
It’s an easy stroll though as it’s completely flat and athough it’s a road you would be unlikely to see a car on it.
Parking for the Yesnaby Coastal Walk
The main car park for the start of the walk is at the Yesnaby Car Park, postcode KW16, you can see it on Google maps here. The car park is free of charge. It’s a 12 minute drive from Stromness and 30 minutes from Kirkwall.
At the other end of the walk there is no official car park, the closest place to leave a car that doesn’t block the road is at these coordinates: 58.9758303, -3.3473007
This is a 10 minute drive from Stromness and 30 minutes from Kirkwall.
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The Yesnaby Coastal Walk has to be one of the best walks on mainland Orkney, if not the best. With incredible sea stacks and rock arches, rugged cliffs alive with seabirds and stunning coastal views, it’s an Orkney must do. We’re sharing directions, trail conditions and all the logistics for the short or long version of the walk.