The Rock Route in the North West Highlands Geopark
Scotland's UNESCO Global Geoparks
Wild and positively unexpected, explore Scotland's three UNESCO Global Geoparks where the landscapes feel like you've reached the edge of the world.
What is a UNESCO Global Geopark?
A UNESCO Global Geopark is a special area recognised by UNESCO for its outstanding geological heritage. It celebrates and protects the natural history of the landscape while helping people discover and understand it.
It's not just about rocks. Geoparks reveal how the landscapes were shaped by volcanic eruptions, glaciers, and shifting continents, connecting geology with wildlife, culture and local communities that call these remarkable places home.
Isle of Arran Geopark
Scotland's newest UNESCO Global Geopark, the Isle of Arran feels like a whole world in miniature. From the moment you arrive, you will be left feeling in awe by the rugged mountains rising above sea lochs, windswept beaches, dramatic cliffs, and green glens.
Follow a trail through Glen Rosa beneath Arran's rugged peaks and admire landscapes sculpted by ice. At Machrie Moor, discover the island's most important archaeological site, packed with prehistoric standing stones and towering sandstone pillars – the peace that this open moorland site evokes is indescribable. For a bigger challenge, climb Arran's highest mountain, Goatfell, for sweeping views across the island and surrounding waters.
Find the best local attractions and experiences:
Discover the Isle of Arran UNESCO Global Geopark
Goat Fell, Isle of Arran
North West Highlands Geopark
The North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark stretches across 2,000 sq. km of Sutherland and Wester Ross in the North Highlands. Home to some of the oldest rocks in Europe, including Lewisian Gneiss formed more than three billion years ago, here the landscape feels vast, wild, and so remote that it's almost otherworldly.
Drive along the Rock Route down winding roads and past turquoise lochs and soaring mountains. Balnakeil is a secluded beach, perfect for strolling, or wander the dunes and machair of Faraid Head with no other soul in sight. In Durness, venture underground into the spectacular Smoo Cave carved into the limestone coastline, or, around Assynt and Coigach, hike through craggy glens and amongst dramatic Torridonian pinnacles like Stac Pollaidh for huge views – this is a place where the silence is interrupted only by rushing water and bird calls.
Find the best local attractions and experiences:
Discover the North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark
Loch Laxford, a sea loch in the North West Highlands Geopark
Shetland Geopark
Where else can you walk across an ancient ocean floor, explore the remains of a volcano, and wander across shifting sands – all in one day? Spanning the entire archipelago, Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark offers dramatic cliffs, stunning beaches, and more islands than you can count.
Feel the full force of the Atlantic at the cliffs of Eshaness, one of Europe’s most dramatic coastlines with sea stacks, caves, and arches, or cross the natural sand tombolo at St Ninian's Isle, one of the finest in Europe. You can take a boat trip to Noss National Nature Reserve where the massive red sandstone cliffs are alive with nesting seabirds, or head to Unst where the untamed landscape is home to one of Europe's richest Viking heritage sites.
Discover Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark
Eshaness, Shetland
© Promote Shetland / Euan Myles