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Clachan Sands

17 April 2023 · Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Clachan Sands is one of my favourites places in the Outer Hebrides to walk, photograph or just chill. Read more to learn why.

I left Loch Druidibeg, heading for the site at Balranald but, being a beautiful sunny day, decided to go via Clachan Sands - a beautiful white sandy beach on North Uist. The beach stretches for over 3 miles with its stunning views of the surrounding landscape, including the mountains of Harris and Lewis in the distance.

The cemetery at Clachan Sands (see photo at top) contains a variety of historic gravestones and memorials, some of which date back to the 18th century. The gravestones, set amongst a beautiful display of primroses at this time of year, bear witness to the hardships and challenges faced by the people of the Outer Hebrides, including the devastating effects of the Highland Clearances and the challenges of living in a remote and isolated location..

I was very tempted to stay a couple of nights at Clachan Sands but, with my leisure batteries running down and needing water, I decided to stick to my original plan and head to Balranald, expecting to return over the next week or so.

When I did return there were a few other vans there but still plenty of space for me. The sun was out with a very strong wind. I spent much of the first day photographing patterns in the sand, some of which I am very pleased with, and they’ll feature on my other website in due course.

On the second day, I decided to walk to the far western end of the beach to see what was down there, not expecting very much. How wrong I was as I came across a whole series of wonderful shapes in the sand which, in the absence of my camera gear, I captured on my iPhone.

The weather turned and I headed back to Balranald for a few days before returning by car in the hope of finding similar patterns in the sand. Unfortunately, all traces of the wonderful shapes I had seen a few days before had disappeared. It had obviously been a very particular combination of the strong wind and the tide that had carved the shapes I had seen. I will return here in the future as there is some great potential in the right conditions.