Communion at Orkney’s Yesnaby Cliffs

I recently spent a week in the Orkney Islands celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary and exploring many new wrinkles in my favorite place. It’s where Sarah and I spent the bulk of our honeymoon, and it didn’t take any convincing to plan our special return. Five years had passed since my last visit (10 for Sarah) and in the interim cruise tourism had increased a lot. To say I was concerned this place would be irrevocably altered would be an understatement. This is a topic I intend to address in subsequent posts, but suffice to say that Orkney is still very much alive and magical. However, it does feel like it’s in a transitional stage, the outcome of which depends on the Orcadian and Scottish governments’ desire for preservation.

The Yesnaby Cliffs topped my list of places to explore, and we seized the moment on our first day. Yesnaby stands roughly halfway between Stromness and Skara Brae on the western Mainland coastline, which is prime real estate near the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Heart of Neolithic Orkney. Unlike rocky Shetland, the Orkney Islands barely skim above the surface of the sea, but here at Yesnaby I found some of Orkney’s most striking landscapes replete with elevation, seastacks, inlets, and geos. This is a beautiful day out hiking along the clifftops and one that should not be missed!

Heading north on the B9056 from Stromness toward Skara Brae, keep your eyes peeled for a single-track road with a white ‘Yesnaby’ sign. Turn left and follow this road past herds of cattle and pastureland to a parking area overlooking the sea. Going north from here leads toward Skara Brae and the special Broch of Borwick (the subject of a future post) while heading south leads to Yesnaby Castle, a seastack, and the best coastal views of the Yesnaby Cliffs.

There isn’t much of a path, surprisingly, as we walked on the spongey grass covering the layered, red sandstone cliffs. Bays formed by rough gashes, lazy inlets of stone and seaweed, and sharp geos cloven into the cliffs passed by like mile markers beneath the broken sky. Now and again sunlight lanced down to illuminate the grass or glitter on the waves, and a cool wind consistently carried that fresh smell of sea, stone, and sky.

This kind of landscape plasters a huge smile on my face. I know because my teeth were tingling and cold. Small pools of water mirrored the sky where the grass receded from the sandstone. These rocks are hundreds of millions of years old, and humans have been walking these same paths for many thousands of years. You can imagine there must be plenty of folktales in this area, and the one that sticks in my mind is the tale of the Yesnaby healer, a woman who could stop the flow of blood at any distance from her target. She simply had to put her mind to the task and the creature would stop bleeding. Seems…useful.

Garthna Geo, also known as Yesnaby Castle, is the most popular sight along the Yesnaby Cliffs. This majestic seastack balances on two spindly legs, and it’s inconceivable that it remains upright after eons of wicked Orcadian storms. We stopped our hike here to appreciate the castle and the cliffs, which we had to ourselves, and connect with that uniquely Orcadian vibe.

After some time we returned north because the Broch of Borwick was also on my agenda. However, the cliffs continue south to the Bight of Mousland and the Blackcraig Cliffs where you’ll eventually have good views of the island of Hoy.

The Yesnaby Cliffs are Orkney gold. I can’t think of a better place to pack a lunch and a nip and while away a stretch of good weather. If you’ve got the time, give Yesnaby the best part of a day.