Wild Camping in the Scottish Highlands, part one: cheap tents and ‘loony dooks’ | The Student Newspaper

Running towards the 'wee white house', Glencoe

A day before we set off on our impromptu wild camping trip, I was running between every ship in Edinburgh in hopes of finding a tent. Nothing about this trip was planned or organised, seemingly least of all our ‘accommodation’, but that did not deter us from committing to exploring the Scottish Highlands. The frantic search somehow paid off so the next morning with a £17 Halfords tent carefully stowed away and The Proclaimers blasting from the car speakers, we began the adventure out of the city with only one hopeful destination in sight – the Isle of Skye.  

The first stop on our journey was Loch Lomond, a freshwater loch that’s only a 2-hour drive from Edinburgh. After feeling accomplished that we had even made it this far and greatly enjoying our newfound freedom, we managed to persuade each other to plunge ourselves into the freezing waters for a very short-lived ‘loony dook’ in the shadow of Ben Lomond. Giddy, numb, and refreshed we began to wind our way further up North to find a spot to pitch our tents for the night, all amazed at the views flying past us even on the first day of our voyage. Whilst warming our tinned veggie chilli over our small gas burner, the clouds began to clear revealing the scenery around us - we had managed to stumble upon Ben Nevis for our first quite chilly night. As it turns out, the very cheap single-walled tent didn’t offer much protection from the elements. Who would have thought…

A sunset over Eigg and Rum

Blurry-eyed in our sleeping bags with our heads popped out of the tent door, we watched the specks of people begin their ascent of the mountain, deciding on a rough plan for the next leg of our journey. With limited service and phone battery, winging it seemed to be the best option. After a breakfast of oats and freshly brewed coffee on the banks of the secluded Loch Eilt, we kept heading West until we made it to the miles of white sand at Silversands Beach. With no one around and full of energy, we quickly stripped off, ran along the sands, and threw ourselves into the water, ecstatic at the incredible place we felt like we had discovered. Cold water swims were quickly becoming a key part of our new, nomadic life. 

Our tent pitched overlooking a beach, Arisaig

The sun broke free of the clouds for the first time so we spent the afternoon slowly walking between the bays from Arisaig and Mallaig in hopes of finding a place where we could pitch our tents. Thanks to the Land Reform Act 2003, wild camping is legal all over Scotland, but there are a few things to consider before setting up camp. For us, the biggest issue was finding stable land within the dunes that we could ensure wouldn’t be flooded overnight – simple stuff really. After a big hunt, we chose some high ground with an unbroken view of the sea, including the small uninhabited isles of Eigg and Rum, and an idyllic beach just for us. As we watched the sunset over the water, we cracked open some Tennent’s and took it all in – I’ll remember this evening forever. What an incredible experience to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful, untouched scenery with great friends to share it with. We ended the evening all laying on the sand under the stars, shivering, giggling and excited to see what Skye would have in store for us the next day. 

"Cheers-ing" Tennent cans overlooking the sea, Arisaig