Bone Caves

The Bone Caves lie in the remote Assynt district of the Northwest Highlands, five kilometres south of Inchnadamph and thirty-five kilometres north of Ullapool. They occupy the limestone cliffs of Creag nan Uamh, a hundred metres above the valley floor where the Allt nan Uamh stream runs. The gaelic name of the burn means ‘stream of the caves’, and four main caverns—Fox’s Den, Bone Cave, Reindeer Cave and Badger Cave—form one of Scotland’s largest cave systems. The caves were first explored in 1889 by geologists Benjamin Peach and John Horne, who found animal bones near the entrances. Excavations in 1926 uncovered reindeer antlers, bear teeth and bones of frogs, snakes and wildcats. Later digs revealed thousands of reindeer bones dating from 47,000 to 8,300 years ago, the only known Scottish skull of a Eurasian lynx, and possible polar-bear remains. Human bones found in Reindeer Cave were buried about 4,500 years ago, suggesting temporary use rather than permanent settlement. Visitors walk along the valley path beside the Allt nan Uamh to reach the cliff base. Above, the four linked caves appear as dark openings in the pale limestone. The first few metres of each cavern can be entered without special gear, while narrow passages and fissures extend up to a kilometre into the mountain. The surrounding moorland rises to the summits of Ben More Assynt and its neighbours, offering wide views across Loch Assynt and the distant peaks.