Walk: Boddin Point & Scurdie Ness with an elephant in the room

📌 Montrose, Angus
★★

South of Montrose and the River South Esk, the Angus coastline juts into the North Sea at two headlands: Boddin Point with its crumbling limekilns and elephant-shaped rock stack, and Scurdie Ness with its glistening white lighthouse. In between, various low cliffs and bays make an attractive and quiet place to explore, but large stretches become overgrown with long grass during summer (particularly unpleasant after rain), so we’d recommend visiting earlier in the year before vegetation has a chance to run wild. The circuit begins with a longish road section cutting across the broad neck of the peninsula; alternatively, park at Boddin Point and leave the tarmac trampling for later.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at Brownlow Place / Usan Road junction, Ferryden

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 716567

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.700952,-2.465109

🚌 Bus to Ferryden

🚗 Street parking

📝 Key info

▶ 12 km / 7 mi | ▲ 180 m | ⌛ 3.5-4 hr

Features: 🏠 Ferryden; 🌊 Boddin Point & Elephant Rock ★★; 🌊 Scurdie Ness & lighthouse

⬤ Moderate | Easy first & last sections on fairly quiet roads. Coastal stretch between Boddin Point & Scurdie Ness begins with a decent path but becomes overgrown beyond Elephant Rock; many sections further on are more or less pathless through long grass in summer.

➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: Ferryden – Balkiellie – Boddin Point – Elephant Rock – Usan – Mains of Usan – Scurdie Ness – start

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: House martins at Boddin Point, eider ducks, goosanders, fulmars, shags, a razorbill, oystercatchers. Cows at Mains of Usan.

Weather: Cloud with some sunny breaks over the sea. Moderate SW breeze, 20°C.

June 2024