[GazM]

Excellent posts.

I guess to a certain extent this all depends on what sort of bouldering you're after. There are plenty of sandy beaches with relatively undocumented bits of rock that you can entertain yourself and kids on for an hour or two all over Scotland. But if you're after developed and documented and secluded it'll be a shorter list.

If you're after somewhere that its very unlikely you'll see anyone else, then I agree with Chris that this probably rules out Primrose Bay, Cummingston and Ardmair Beach. Possibly Garheugh and Thirlstane too, although that's not an area I know. Saying that, on a quiet day I imagine you could have most Scottish crags to yourself, so who knows...

I visited Larbrax in Galloway last year. Great beach and easily big enough to find seclusion. Fair bit of rock and plenty to explore, although I thought the documented bouldering wasn't that great (the trad routes were great).

Sanna at Ardnamurchan? Although no guarantee of seclusion. Bonjoy's offering round the coast sounds great though.
Arisaig Cave? Although not much for kids.
Sand Bay, north of Applecross village fits the bill for beach and bouldering, but you're in proper NC500 territory there so maybe not seclusion.

I'll keep thinking...

[JamieG]

Dumfries and Galloway is always a quiet bit of Scotland. Just doesn't attract that many tourists. Maybe doesn't quite have the appeal of the highlands, but I think it is really nice. Excellent mountain biking too.

I'd be very surprised if you met any else at Garheugh. Some good bouldering there and a nice (but pebbly beach).

At the Thirlstane you'll probably see other walkers but I would doubt climbers. Beach is big and sandy, and nice bouldering.

I've never been to Sandyhills, but that would probably fit the bill too. https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/sandyhills-9050/

[matt463]

Yea to be honest the dog is 100% mellow around anything other than other dogs. But he has a cool dog backpack that I load him into when in busy spots (the pointing and staring from passers by never gets old when carrying a 30kg+ staffie in a backpack).

Also, I'm perfectly happy visiting a place with undocumented bits of rock.

[SA Chris]

I've never been to Sandyhills, but that would probably fit the bill too. https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/sandyhills-9050/

Sandyhills beach is one of the most popular in D&G, complete with pat parking area. You could probably get some seclusion id you walked a wee bit though. I think Garheugh or even Thirlstane you would be unlikely to have anyone else there on a weekday. I did think of Sand Bay too, but never actually been myself.

Sad about honesty campsite at Sheigra, but not unexpected. is the field next to the toilets at Oldshoremore still treated as an ad-hoc campsite? I've not been in years.

[sherlock]

Not sure about Oldshoremore but there has been a significant amount of No Overnight Parking signs recently all around the NW.
I believe that it is possible to overnight and encouraged at the old pier in Kinlochbervie.
Low cost and toilets/ water.

[SA Chris]

Realise I've not been since NC 500, not sure I'd want to.

[sherlock]

Autumn, winter and early spring are still good.

[SA Chris]

Autumn for surf, had some cracking sessions at Oldshoremore.

[Fiend]

Yea to be honest the dog is 100% mellow around anything other than other dogs. But he has a cool dog backpack that I load him into when in busy spots (the pointing and staring from passers by never gets old when carrying a 30kg+ staffie in a backpack).

I do think we need visual proof of this....

[Stewart]

Thirlstane is great but there are always people walking dogs around there.  I was there today and there was 4 other climbers. That's pretty unusual though.
Garheugh is also excellent bouldering and almost always much quieter.
Sandyhills always has people out walking dogs as well

[gardinrm]

Last summer we stayed in the campsite at Durness. Lovely spot, nice campsite, and great beaches all around. There has been some nice bouldering developed at Rispond (just east of Durness) in the last couple of years. And you can get from there to a number of good climbing areas already mentioned very easily (Sheigra and the surrounding areas)

The Ross of Mull is an amazing spot too. Fidden Farm is the campsite, which I believe is great (think I was 4 when we last went there). There is some climbing around there too (Fionphort and some other areas not very well documented) but I believe the rock is ROUGH. Bonjoy did some cool looking things on an erratic block around there, but I can't remember where. Have wanted to make a trip for a while.

[Bonjoy]

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/traigh-a-mhill-argyll-and-bute
Not far south east of Knockvologan which is mentioned in the Scottish bouldering guide.
There is typical Mull granite there but the best bouldering is on a dark fine grained rock which looks like metamorphosed sandstone, possibly psammite.
I'd really like to go back and do some more there.
The bouldering is mostly non tidal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEomH77jCs0/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

[andy moles]

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/701361447
Sheigra honour campsite is now closed to vehicles because of this

Ah, man. Of all the once-wonderful places fucked by the NC500, this makes me sadder than most.

Achmelvich last summer broke my heart too.

[scragrock]

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/701361447
Sheigra honour campsite is now closed to vehicles because of this

Ah, man. Of all the once-wonderful places fucked by the NC500, this makes me sadder than most.

Achmelvich last summer broke my heart too.

John Muir Trust who own and run Sandwood Estate including Sheigra Honour campsite must have thought long and hard about this decision, its not like they are some irate local crofter or absentee landlord only in it for the tax relieve. Shows how bad things must have gone.

NC500 sucks, interestingly as the years pass i hear less and less support for it but little is done to stop/hinder or avert its impact.

Maybe the only way at the moment is just to close everything of value off to the uneducated masses?

[andy moles]

NC500 sucks, interestingly as the years pass i hear less and less support for it but little is done to stop/hinder or avert its impact.

Genie's out of the bottle, but closures would be far worse. We're all the uneducated masses. The only positive way forward I can see is the development of better facilities to cope with the traffic.

Sometimes I console myself that it's nothing new, old Lake District residents must remember when it was quieter there too. But then that's been a sheep farm beyond living memory, there's something more tragic about secluded machair beaches.

We are too many!

[sherlock]

It actually seems a bit quieter this year. Don't know if it's fuel prices or it's been a victim of its own "success".
I have overhead some tourists moaning how busy it is!
There are still quiet places and seasons but have to agree with Andy, it's heartbreaking.

[SA Chris]

Depressing. Got fond memories of amazing surf and climbing trips up that way in pre-kids era, and planning to start going back more often now the kids are old enough to really appreciate it all and get involved, but not sure i want to now.

[andy moles]

It actually seems a bit quieter this year. Don't know if it's fuel prices or it's been a victim of its own "success".
I have overhead some tourists moaning how busy it is!
There are still quiet places and seasons but have to agree with Andy, it's heartbreaking.

Shite weather on the west coast this season too?

I'm all too aware when I moan about how busy it is that I'm a tourist too, just one that feels I have a more meaningful connection to these places than queuing in a white goods cavalcade to 'do' the sights.

[sherlock]

Sure, the weather has been guff and I suppose the schools haven't broken up yet....
It wasn't a dig at you re.moaning tourists remark by the way! I just reread my post and it might seem like that. We're all tourists somewhere, I'm pretty hopeful that most folk on this site are aware of their impact.
TheLandWept website is depressing viewing.

[SA Chris]

Maybe with overseas travel now pretty much unrestricted for the first summer in 3 years, people are opting for their usual sunspots.

I'd like to think so too andy, going there with a specific goal to do something, rather than driving it in as little time as possible and "ticking " the sights. I was on the NC 500 facebook group for a while, but it was too depressing.

Fortunately the NE 250 seems to have failed to attract the same level of interest.

[andy moles]

It wasn't a dig at you re.moaning tourists remark by the way! I just reread my post and it might seem like that. We're all tourists somewhere, I'm pretty hopeful that most folk on this site are aware of their impact.

Don't worry, I didn't take it as such! Just aware that the irony of it applies somewhat to me too.

[Bonjoy]

NC500 sucks, interestingly as the years pass i hear less and less support for it but little is done to stop/hinder or avert its impact.

Genie's out of the bottle, but closures would be far worse. We're all the uneducated masses. The only positive way forward I can see is the development of better facilities to cope with the traffic.

Sometimes I console myself that it's nothing new, old Lake District residents must remember when it was quieter there too. But then that's been a sheep farm beyond living memory, there's something more tragic about secluded machair beaches.

We are too many!

I agree to a large extent, but...
Historically speaking the highlands are kind of 'artificially' under inhabited and quiet due to the clearances. You only have to observe the huge quantity of abandoned crofts in truly remote areas all over the place to wonder how things would be if this had never happened. Presumably many of these crofts would now be villages, there would be many more roads and tourist numbers would be huge. If it weren't for a brutal historic act of mass theft and cruelty things would probably be so much worse.
Maybe I have a different perspective on crowded, coming from living on the edge of the peak district. Mostly on the west coast I see pockets of crowding around campsites, towns, popular roadside instragramy photo locations, and very easily accessible beaches, but it's generally quiet to the point of empty within 10-30 mins walk of these places, and lets face it most of Scotland is a lot further than 10-30 mins walk from a tourist hotspot.

[spidermonkey09]

In my couple of trips around Torridon the last few years, which were in spring and autumn, I didn't see what all the fuss was about regarding overcrowing/busyness etc. It was still quieter than any non scottish national park would be 80% of the time and solitude was all but guaranteed if one walked for 5 minutes.

I do get that it will have changed from how it used to be but my honest perception was it wasn't that bad.

[sherlock]

Spring and autumn are usually much quieter.

[SA Chris]

Historically speaking the highlands are kind of 'artificially' under inhabited and quiet due to the clearances.

I would have thought that the clearances happened too long ago to have any influence on the current human geography of the region, if anything it may have even led to an increase in development on the coastal fringes that are part of the NC 500 route as a lot of the displaced people were moved to marginal coastal crofts. The influences of industrialisation and general decline in rural population across the UK, decline in fishing (especially herring) and world wars possibly all played a significant part. Who knows, we can but speculate.
Yes, the crowding is nothing like the popular tourist centres in the English NPs, but it's the relatively sudden increase in popularity caused by the promotion of the NC500 and the restrictions on international holidays that have increased pressure on the region, and the physical geography of the area makes infrastructure improvements complicated and costly.