Findlater Castle from Cullen

Explore the pretty fishing town of Cullen and then follow the dramatic coast to a sandy beach and then to the clifftop ruins of Findlater Castle.

Terrain

Coastal footpath, rocky in places with steps, minor roads.

Public Transport

Cullen is served by buses.

Start

Cullen. Open start point in Google Maps for directions.

Users' reports

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Bog Factor (key)

Walk Statistics

Distance: 9.5km / 6 miles
Time: 3 - 3.5 hours
Ascent: 95m (Profile)
Start Grid Ref: NJ512671

Maps / GPS

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Accommodation

Walk Description

Stage 1

Start the walk from the Square in the centre of Cullen, part way up the main street, where there is also the Tourist Information and toilets. Walk down the main street until the harbour is reached. Keep right at the bottom to pass the toilets and then Cullen Harbour Hostel on the left. Soon the houses are left behind and you are on the coastal path. Pass the pet cemetery on the right and continue straight ahead.

Stage 2

The path heads around the first small headland, with jagged rocks sticking out of the water at low tide, and descends to a wide bay. Here there are the scant remains of a salmon bothy, which was used by salmon netters until 1975. Nets would be fixed to buoys at night to make a trap and then hauled in the next morning. Follow the grassy path along the shore, and keep straight on at a junction where a waymarked route heads up a gully. Soon pass through a gate and continue to follow the path all the way round the bay.

Stage 3

The path is narrow and rocky in places, after the next headland there is a dramatic descent and climb but the route is easy to follow. Soon a long flight of steps is reached with a memorial to the man who built them single-handedly in the 1980's. The next bay is littered with massive upstanding rocks. Follow the path to the far side.

Stage 4

A step through a rocky gaps leads to the first view of Findlater castle on the far side of the next bay. The ruin is perched on a high rock above the sea and joined only by a narrow strip to the mainland. Keep following the path which keeps inland of the shore and can be a little overgrown with bracken in the high summer. Eventually the sandy curve of Sunnyside Bay is reached.

Stage 5

You can either keep on the shore path here or head down to the beach and walk on the sand. Either way once at the far end of the sand head up the cliff on a clear path (if coming from the shore path this is a right turn, if from the beach just head up the final path). Once on top of the cliffs turn left to follow the grassy path between the cliff edge and fields. Soon a viewing area and information board for the castle is reached.

Stage 6

It is possible to descend to the castle along a narrow path but extreme care is needed and the castle ruins themselves are in a dangerous state. For the return there are a couple of options; one route heads back before turning up a gully to reach a path to Logie House; another returns further back along the coast where a clear diagonal path can be seen heading up a gully on the left, just before the gate you passed through earlier. Taking the latter option, climb up and go through the gate near the top and continue to pass to the left of the caravan park. Turn left along a stone wall and then turn right to head downhill towards the harbour following the signs. When the harbour road is reached turn left to head uphill back to the Square.

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