Wild Swimming in the Far North
The following information is taken from ‘Hills of the North Rejoice!’ by Ralph MacGregor, available online from curlewcottage.com. We repeat our warning from the introduction that small, peaty lochans can be dangerous, as can the peat bogs surrounding them. Ralph MacGregor is a very experienced mountaineer, canoeist, cyclist and swimmer. Only try to emulate him if you are equally fit and experienced.
Ralph's list of the Caithness lochs:(In roughly alphabetical order. Numbers in brackets are grid references.)
Loch Achbuiligan (988656) Only suitable for paddling.
Lochan Airigh Leathaid(990390) Three lochs. The fourth (second from north) is just a wet marsh. The two southern lochs are deep and fine for swimming with stony floors. The northernmost loch has a peaty/stony floor and is too shallow. Nice moorland location below the slopes of the Knockfins.
Loch Altain Dubh (991480) Too shallow for swimming. Stony bottom.
Chain of lochs north of Altnabreac:- (4-8)
Loch Na Cloich (975475) Deep enough for swimming.
Lochan Ealach Mor (967480) Fine for swimming.
Lochan Ealach Beg (965495) Shallow and peaty.
Loch Torr Na Ceardaich (970510) Shallow and peaty.
Lochan Dubh Cul Na Beinn (984544) Peaty but deep enough for good swimming.
Loch of Auckengill (Two lochs) (351652) Western loch is the only one fit for swimming; not very deep but a nice swim from the north shore. Reedy, soft bottom but not dangerous.
Loch Bad a Channain (934409) Shallow with reeds to east and stony bottom to west but deep enough for swimming. Nice setting rather spoilt by nearby forest fence. A lovely refreshing swim on a warm midgey late July morning.
Banniskirk Loch (177573) Too weedy for swimming. Managed a few strokes but only about three feet deep and weed growing everywhere – otherwise would be nice.
Loch Beg (by Loch More) (088463). Swum briefly from boat landing, cold water. Not worth it, although deep enough. Leave this one to the fishermen!
Black Loch (Quintfall) (312632) Shallow, very soft bottom, dangerous.
Black Loch (near Loch Scye) (998563) Good for safe swimming, three to four feet deep, soft (but not very soft) bottom. Warms quickly.
Black Loch (Scotscalder) (089548) Rather soft bottom with deep holes and lumps of peat near surface in middle. Definitely not for the novice but a nice swim.
Black Loch (Dorrery, north) (049578) A small peaty pool, only three feet deep in middle. Soft but firm bottom, a few stones. Possible to swim but not really deep enough. Nice moorland setting in spite of being near road. Black Loch (John O’ Groats). Just a dry – or boggy – circular depression in the heather. Not enough water for a frog when I visited!
Binocular Lochs (Reay) (961566) Both tiny lochs shelve very steeply, but are good. Unique setting for Caithness.
Loch Bhraigh na h-Aibhne (998318) The source of the Dunbeath Water. Sandy beach. Very fine setting with Morven to south. A beautiful swim on a good day.
Borgue Loch(120270) Stony bottom, deep enough for good swimming.
Lochan Nam Breac (Altnabreac) (002478) Very marshy but loch has a stony bottom and is fine for swimming.
Loch Breac (Ben Alisky) (065375) Good loch for swimming, sandy beach sloping steadily, nice setting below steep slopes.
Lochan Buidhe (Forss) (038694) Agricultural loch surrounded by rushes, and marsh, very reedy but just about deep enough for swimming in middle.
Loch Caise (Altnabreac) (025468) Fairly soft bottom, shallow but deep enough and a good swim. Nice views to mountains.
Loch Calder (070610) No shortage of places to swim. A good place for a morning dip on the way to work. Probably ruined by gigantic windmills by the time this book is published.
Loch of Camster (263442) Peaty floor, rather shallow (three to four feet deep).
Loch Caluim (020520) Lovely swimming from beach at south end by fishing hut.
Caol Loch (Altnabreac) (025485) Good swimming. Good shelter in small fishing hut at south end. Fine views of hills and moors.
Catherine’s Loch (043380) Very small, not really deep enough for swimming (three feet at most), bottom fairly soft and peaty but firm. Odd underwater boulder to scrape knees! Nice setting.
Lochan nam Bo Riabhach (038321) Good swimming, but high up and cold.
Loch a Chairn (south) (076494) Very boggy around loch but once in from east shore found a good stony bottom and deep enough for swimming.(north) (074497) Has anyone else ever swum here? In spite of very boggy surrounds a good swimming loch from near north-east end where shelves a bit more steeply. Firm stony bottom.
Lochan Chairn Leith (058450) Maze of dubh-lochs between loch and track, large detours needed. Stony/peaty bottom, no beaches – in from rushes into three-foot deep water. Fine for swimming.
Loch a Cheracher (134395) Soft bottom but deep enough for swimming.
Loch a Cherigal(100488) Peaty, not really deep enough for swimming.
Loch a Chiteadh (040508) A nice moorland swim.
Lochan a Chleirich (north)(962453) Fine for swimming but was very cold indeed, managed most way across narrow end then retreated! (south)(965550) has soft peaty bottom, gelatinous and very dangerous, almost certainly not deep enough for swimming. lochan one mile to north-east) (975565) Really largest of dubh lochs. About three feet deep then dangerous soft bottom, managed a couple of strokes!
Loch nan Clachan Geala (Broubster) (002585) Borrowed boat and swam from it. Quiet setting in new plantations.
Loch nan Clach Geala (Reay) (960578) Fine setting, grand views, lovely sandy beach.
Clar Loch (954443) Rough rocky bottom, shoes recommended but shelves from shore to plenty of depth for swimming. Nice loch.
Lochan Coire na Beinn (148398) Shelves steadily, stony then soft bottom, deep enough, for swimming, fine location. Danger of grazed knees on underwater boulders.
Lochan Croc nan Lair (040454) Deep enough for swimming, stony bottom.
Dhu Loch (Stirkoke) (339485) Attractive setting, rich in birdlife, should be visited but unsuitable for swimming or paddling as very marshy, shallow and reedy.
Lochan Dubh Cul an Loin (048523) Two lochs, both dangerous with very soft bottoms.
Lochan Dubh nan Geodh (060478) Deep enough for swimming but very rocky/stony bottom.
Loch Dubh (by Loch Ruard) (148435) Shelves steeply from east bank. Good swimming in deep water.
Loch Dubh (below Lochdhu Lodge, Altnabreac) (010440) Very overlooked by the lodge, choose a time of year when nobody is staying! Loch shallow with stony bottom, need to go in a long way before deep enough for swimming.
Lochan Dubh (near Loch More) (070448) Probably a death trap. Edge of loch seems firm then suddenly a very soft, sticky, and probably deep peaty bottom. Nowhere looks deep enough for swimming.
Lochan Dubh (north-east of Loch More) (094465) Shallow, peaty and reedy, not good for swimming and probably no more than three feet deep above soft bottom (could be dangerous). Not worth it, much better lochs near!
Loch Dubh (Ben Alisky) (053370) A good swimming loch but a bit bouldery to enter below the fishing hut – opposite shore looks better with sandy beach. A lovely setting.
Lochan Dubh na Cloiche (985485) A very out-of-the-way lochan beyond Altnabreac just inside the new forests. Good swimming from north-east bank, stony bottom, shelves steadily to deep water.
Lochan Dubh na Feithe Caoile (985443) A railway lochan, just below line west of Altnabreac. Not deep enough for swimming, perhaps two feet deep and bottom getting very soft once away from shore, could be dangerous.
Lochan Dubh a Chracairnie (065515) Nice, but nude swimmers watch out for the trains!
Loch an Duine (045507) Nice remote moorland loch.
Dunnet Head Lochs:- (some fifteen, most very good for swimming)
Loch of Bushta (195726) Good for swimming from south end where there is a nice sloping sandy bottom.
Loch of Easter Head (207763)
Long Loch (205760)
Loch Burifa (202762)
Sanders Loch (east) (210753)
Sanders Loch (west) (184748)
Nether Sanders Loch (190745) Only deep enough for paddling.
Many Lochs (200747) Three lochs, mostly not deep enough for swimming.
Black Loch (near Red Geo) (185736) Surprisingly good loch for swimming, like a large swimming pool, went in from north bank, peaty bottom but soon out of depth and fine for swimming. Nice location.
Grassy Loch (near road) (207743) Went in from south-east bank – a surprisingly good swim, stony/peaty bottom then deep, swam across to far shore which is a deep/floating bog suddenly ending in five-foot deep water. Could do widths!
Black Loch (near road, above Many Lochs) (203745) A good swimming pool, stony at south bank but shelves quite quickly into deep water, nice swim, some weed towards far shore.
Loch of Muirs (202734) A surprisingly good loch for safe swimming. From south-east bank, peaty/stony floor soon deep enough, could swim right across but still just touch bottom. Nice location.
Courtfall Loch 214740 and Northern Gate Loch 209719 are reedy pools not suitable for swimming or paddling.
Lochan Ealach (042603) Adventurous approach from Broubster road over floating bogs but fine for swimming if you manage to reach the water’s edge!
Loch Eilanach (070475) Nice swim to island.
Loch Eun (Rumsdale)(983425) Good loch for swimming, soon deep enough from boat landing at end of path. Stony bottom.
Lochan Nan Eun (South of Reay) (982613) A small pool with bogbean and some weed but deep enough for swimming, quite good, nice setting partly surrounded by new plantations on hilltop. Soft but fairly firm bottom.
Loch nam Fear (025430) Good loch for swimming with sandy beach and gentle slope to softer bottom, nice views.
Loch Gaineimh (050470) A very good loch for swimming with a sandy beach and sandy bottom.
Loch Gaineimh (east, near Loch Eilenach)(077489) Very marshy and reedy around loch but good swimming when in from east bank, firm stony bottom.
Garbh Loch (Altnabreac) (037467) Stony rocky bottom and gentle shelving but good swimming once out.
Loch Garbh (Reay)(938606) Nice swimming pool, can do widths.
Glutt Loch (993374) Very much a private estate fishing loch with track, locked fishing hut, jetty and boat. A fine moorland location below the slopes of the Knockfins with Morven to the south – a very nice swimming loch if nobody is about! Stony floor.
Grassie Loch (by Caise) (030470) Too shallow to swim, very soft bottom. If full to top of old dam would be OK.
Groats Loch (Watenan) (315408) A marsh, completely unsuitable for swimming or paddling.
Loch Heilan (255685) Familiar farmland loch.Loch Hempriggs (340470) Very gently sloping and stony bottom, from near main road. Otherwise access difficult through farmland or bog. Not my favourite.
St John’s Loch (225724) Familiar fishing loch. Best go in from west shore. (note from local resident – weeds have spread over this loch, making it hazardous.)
Loch of Killimster (308560) A surprisingly good swim from the fishing jetty at the eastern end of the loch. Knockfin Heights lochs. The Caithness swimmer is duty-bound to investigate but need not visit or swim all the lochs which are shallow with deep soft peat and potentially very dangerous. If determined it is just possible to swim in the larger ones. A better ploy is to ski across them when frozen.
Lint Lochs (378698) The southern one of the pair is deep enough for swimming, the other just a reedy pool. Nice but very small. Peaty bottom but not too soft.
Loch of Lomashion (386700) A nice loch for swimming, soft but firm peaty bottom, fine moorland setting.
Loch Losgann (027500) Two lochs. The southern loch is good, on the western edge the reeds give straight into four-foot water with a hard bottom, just like a swimming pool. The northern loch is not deep enough for swimming.
Margaret’s Loch (976355) A small and remote lochan above Glutt Lodge, high on the edge of the Knockfin plateau with fine views. Unlike other very similar lochans nearby, for some reason this one is named. The loch is shallow with a stony shore and soft peaty bottom, just about OK for a paddle but unsuitable for swimming.
Loch Meadie (090480) Overlooked by the road so it is best to go in half way up the western shore where a forestry track gives access. Good swimming.
Loch Meadhoin (062517) Watch out for trains! Very boggy at southern end but deep enough for swimming.
Loch Mhadadh (south of Glutt) (998331) A very fine setting with Morven to south. Alas it is not deep enough for swimming, even in the middle. A fine sandy beach and soft sandy bottom.
Loch a Mhadaidh (Rumsdale) (980418) Not really deep enough, close to dubh lochs and a bit like a large dubh loch. A stony shore gives way to soft peat with big underwater hummocks of peat rising towards surface. I found nowhere over three feet deep.
Loch a Mhuilinn (Altnabreac) (018420) Good swimming but rather overlooked by road.
Loch a Mhuilinn (Dorrery) (060568) Small but a good safe swimming pool, firm but soft bottom, about four feet deep.
Loch na Moine (938658) Good swimming, unusual clifftop location.
Loch of Mey (273736) Only two or three feet deep even in the middle.
Loch More (080460) The classic swimming loch; you might even meet somebody else in the water off the sandy beaches along the eastern shore.
Loch na Nighinn (002417) A delectable high moorland loch with superb views to Morven, Ben Alisky and the Knockfin Heights. The stony east shore soon shelves to deep water, you can do widths as in a swimming pool.
Loch Olginey (090574) Shallow but shelves eventually to deep enough water for swimming. There is a small island but the water is too shallow for swimming there and just gives a muddy wallow.
Loch Rangag (178418) Shelves very steeply from the broch to deep water.
Loch Rumsdale. (967418) A good swimming loch with a sloping sandy/peaty bottom from a sandy beach. Nice setting.
Loch Ruard (143430) Went in from east bank south of fishing hut. Sandy beach steadily shelves, stony bottom. Good for swimming.
Loch na Saigh Glaise (013515) A bit disappointing. Loch shallow with soft silty/peaty bottom, never found it more than about three feet deep and peat getting soft in patches especially towards middle. Went in from west shore.
Loch Saorach (015605) A bit shallow at least at the southern end, with a stony bottom and a long wade out to reach deep enough water for swimming.
Loch Sand (098410) A nice loch with sandy beaches in a lovely setting. Unfortunately I’ve only managed to swim there, briefly, when it has been perishingly cold!
Loch Sarclet (343430) It is difficult to swim where not overlooked. At the southern end, you need to push through thick undergrowth to reach the bank. Once in, the stony bottom soon shelves to deep enough water for a good swim.
Loch Scalabsdale (963244) Stony bottom giving onto soft peat, deep enough for swimming. Grand setting but mostly very cold as the highest loch in the county.
Lochan Scrabach (025445) Not deep enough for swimming, mostly a rather soft peaty bottom which might be dangerous in places, otherwise stones/boulders.
Scrabster Loch (086704) Used to provide good swimming from east shore and was the most accessible loch for Thurso. The dam has recently been dismantled and the loch is probably now too shallow for swimming. Other lochans on Holburn Head such as Coghill Loch are just reedy marshes.
Loch Scye (005555) Swim at north end away from the boathouse and Shurrery lodge.
Little Loch Scye (012554) Remarkably good for swimming – sandy shore, deep enough, not very stony, good setting.
Loch Shurrery (045555) Best to swim from the southern end of the loch on the Dorrery side where there is a small sandy beach and you are not overlooked.
Skyline Loch west, Skyline Loch east (014478) Both give good swimming, both have rough stony bottoms. Eastern loch has some big rocks under the surface. Very boggy to the south of main loch.
Loch na Stairne (960303) Three or four lochs, little more than large dubh-lochs. The easternmost is just about deep enough for swimming with a soft peaty bottom. The others are shallow with deep soft peat and could be dangerous.
Loch Stemster (or Scarmclate) (190595) Shallow loch in farmland and woodland, rich in birds and wildlife. Muddy shores but good swimming once in.
Loch Stemster (Achavanich) (190425) Stony.
The Trinkie (376495) Excellent salt-water outdoor swimming pool.
Loch Thormaid (600015) Nice little sandy beach at southern end.
Loch Thulachan (105413) Good moorland loch below ruined lodge.
Loch Toftingall (190525) Now surrounded by plantations but still good for swimming from boat landing to west.
Loch Tuim Ghlais (978525) Perhaps the best loch of all.
Loch Watten (230560) The crannog at the eastern end makes a nice objective (but was overgrown with nettles on my last visit!)
Loch Watenan (319415) Rather reedy, not very good but deep enough for swimming, hard bottom.
Loch of Winless(293547) An attractive, very reedy loch with little open water. Bottom is soft but firm, water about three feet deep, swimming only just possible, lots of weed and mud. But nice for a quick dip early on a fine warm morning!
Loch of Warehouse (300424) Very steeply shelving but good.
Loch of Yarrows (310440) Nice at southern end where not overlooked.
Loch Brickigeo (303437) just to east has fairly soft bottom, reedy, just deep enough for swimming.I