Walk: Best of Deerness

Deerness, Orkney Mainland
★★★

Orkney has an array of interesting coastlines to choose from, and Deerness is up there with the best of them. The succession of unusual coastal features begins with the collapsed sea cave known as The Gloup, followed by the almost-sea-stack at the Brough of Deerness, linked tenuously to the mainland by a steep cliff-edge path and sporting the remains of a Viking settlement. Straightforward walking around Mull Head follows, culminating in the Covenanters Memorial. This commemorates the Presbyterian Covenanters taken prisoner at the Battle of Bothwell Brig in 1679, some of whom later lost their lives in a shipwreck off the coast near here. The coastal section gets increasingly overgrown after Mull Head – best to ignore the undergrowth brushing constantly against your legs and instead enjoy the views towards Stronsay and Shapinsay.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at end of Denwick Road, Deerness, Orkney Mainland

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: HY 575077

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 58.953979,-2.740867

❌ No public transport within 1 mi. Infrequent bus to B9050 / Stove Road junction (2 mi)

🚗 Car park

📝 Key info

▶ 9 km / 6 mi | ▲ 380 m | ⌛ 3 hr

Features: 🌊 The Gloup; 🌊 Brough of Deerness; 🌊 Mull Head; ✞ Covenanters Memorial

⬤ Moderate | Tracks for inland sections, wet near start. Excellent coastal paths become wet after Mull Head, then drier but overgrown approaching the memorial. Steep steps / path above a big drop to ascend the Brough; apart from this, gradients are gradual.

➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: start – East Denwick – Breckan – The Gloup – Brough of Deerness – Mull Head – Covenanters Memorial – start

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: Unbearable numbers of large flies on the first leg of the walk, thankfully blown away by the breeze once the coast was reached. Shags, cormorants, fulmars and other seabirds in small numbers beyond.

Weather: Overcast and little wind to start, soon becoming sunny. Temperatures climbing towards high teens – warmer than the rest of the week.

August 2015