10 metres from the road. How did you miss that?

There is a little waterfall beside the road south from Durness that is easy to drive past without noticing. From the vehicle, natural obstacles conceal it. We stop somewhere suitable, never in a passing place, and walk perhaps ten metres from the edge of the road. The view opens, the water appears, and somebody invariably expresses amazement that it was there all along. Nothing particularly strenuous has happened, yet their experience of that stretch of the Highlands has changed. Scotland’s right to roam does not require you to roam very far.

I make use of that freedom when exploring the remains of villages emptied during the Highland Clearances. One lies barely ten metres from a public road, with neither a signpost nor a visitor car park to announce its presence. I will keep its location for our guests, but what makes it special is more than the history beneath our feet. A little elevation reveals sweeping hills and grass-covered meadows reaching down to the river. Often, red deer are grazing or lying in the sunshine. We come to explore a place where people once lived, and find ourselves enjoying a view that helps us appreciate why that place mattered.

As we explain in another article in this series, responsible access allows us to walk over most land, including privately owned land. Here is its value in practice: we can step beyond the roadside and experience something that the windscreen conceals. There need not be a visitor entrance or a carefully surfaced path. That does not make every piece of ground suitable to cross, and access rights do not provide parking rights or a guarantee of safety. We still need somewhere sensible to leave the vehicle, a route within our abilities and consideration for people, livestock and wildlife.

You do not need to spend weeks researching every possible stop, but I do recommend looking at a map before you travel, or during a quiet moment on your journey. A river, a patch of woodland or a nearby stretch of coast may suggest possibilities that your social media feed has never mentioned. Look for paths or tracks that might help you reach them, then check the terrain and access guidance before setting off. Sometimes the reward is a different view rather than another destination, and reaching it takes only a few minutes.

To learn more, book one of our North Coast Explorer private tours.