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Dog Friendly Beaches in Highlands

42 dog friendly beaches across Highlands with honest access info, tide notes, and year-round or seasonal restrictions flagged upfront.

42 locations
Big Sand Beach beach

Big Sand Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 10/10

An enormous, almost always empty Highland beach north of Gairloch with vast views west to the Outer Hebrides, year-round unrestricted dog access and the kind of solitude that only the west Highlands can offer.

Camusdarach Beach beach

Camusdarach Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 10/10

The stunning white sand beach featured in the film Local Hero, with turquoise water, views to the Small Isles and year-round unrestricted dog access on the Road to the Isles.

Sandwood Bay beach

Sandwood Bay

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 10/10

One of Britain's most magnificent and remote beaches: a vast arc of sand backed by dunes and the sea stack Am Buachaille, accessible only via a 4.5-mile moorland walk with year-round unrestricted dog access.

Sanna Bay beach

Sanna Bay

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 10/10

One of Scotland's finest beaches at the tip of Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point on the British mainland, with turquoise water, white sand and extraordinary views to the Small Isles and Outer Hebrides.

Achmelvich Beach beach

Achmelvich Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A small, perfect cove in Assynt with crystal-clear water, white sand and a dramatic backdrop of Torridonian mountains.

Achnahaird Beach beach

Achnahaird Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A beautiful, remote Coigach beach north of Ullapool backed by dunes with outstanding views across the Minch and year-round dog access in one of the finest stretches of north-west Highland coastline.

Balnakeil Bay beach

Balnakeil Bay

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A remote beach near Cape Wrath with blindingly white sand, turquoise water and year-round access at the very edge of mainland Britain.

Clachtoll Beach beach

Clachtoll Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A breathtaking Assynt beach backed by ancient Lewisian gneiss rocks with an Iron Age broch above, views to the Outer Hebrides, a dog-friendly campsite and year-round unrestricted access.

Dunnet Bay beach

Dunnet Bay

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

Britain's most northerly mainland beach, a vast arc of sand in Caithness with year-round access and a dramatic scale that feels truly remote.

Gairloch Beach beach

Gairloch Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A wide sandy Wester Ross beach with views to the Outer Hebrides, year-round unrestricted dog access and one of the best-equipped Highland villages for post-beach refreshments.

Mellon Udrigle Beach beach

Mellon Udrigle Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A beautiful, remote white sand beach on Wester Ross looking west to the Outer Hebrides with dramatic mountain backdrops, year-round dog access and the kind of untouched solitude rare even in Scotland.

Morar Beach beach

Morar Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A beautiful white sand beach where Britain's shortest river meets the sea at Morar, with Loch Morar just behind and year-round unrestricted dog access on the stunning Road to the Isles.

Oldshoremore Beach beach

Oldshoremore Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A wide, remote sandy beach near Kinlochbervie in north-west Sutherland with year-round dog access, turquoise Atlantic waters and the extraordinary emptiness of one of Scotland's most northerly west-coast beaches.

Sheigra Beach beach

Sheigra Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

A beautiful, barely visited sandy beach near Sheigra in north-west Sutherland with year-round dog access and the extraordinary sense of solitude found only at the northern edge of the British mainland.

Silver Sands of Morar beach

Silver Sands of Morar

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 9/10

Dazzlingly white sand beaches at Morar with year-round access, views to Skye and Rum across the water and a dramatic highland setting.

Altandhu Beach beach

Altandhu Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A small Coigach beach with outstanding views to the Summer Isles, year-round dog access and the option to extend the day with a boat trip to the uninhabited islands offshore.

Arisaig Beach beach

Arisaig Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A white sand beach at the beautiful Road to the Isles village of Arisaig with iconic views to Eigg and Rum, year-round dog access and excellent facilities for the area.

Bettyhill Beach beach

Bettyhill Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A wide sandy beach on the north Sutherland coast at Bettyhill with year-round dog access, the River Naver outflow at one end and connections to the Highland Clearances story at the local museum.

Ceannabeinne Beach beach

Ceannabeinne Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A beautiful sandy beach at the base of dramatic limestone cliffs on the north Sutherland coast near Durness with year-round dog access and extraordinary Cape Wrath peninsula scenery.

Clashnessie Beach beach

Clashnessie Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A small, beautiful sandy Assynt cove near Clashnessie with year-round dog access and the ancient Lewisian gneiss landscape typical of north-west Sutherland.

Coldbackie Beach beach

Coldbackie Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A beautiful sandy beach near Tongue with outstanding views across the Kyle of Tongue to Ben Loyal and the Sutherland hills, year-round dog access and the quiet majesty of the north coast.

Dornoch Beach beach

Dornoch Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A wide, award-winning sandy beach at historic Dornoch alongside the Royal Dornoch Golf Course, with year-round dog access and a town full of cathedral, witchcraft history and unexpected celebrity connections.

Gruinard Beach beach

Gruinard Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A wild sandy bay in Gruinard Bay with views to the former quarantined Gruinard Island, year-round dog access and the dramatic Torridonian sandstone landscape of Wester Ross as a backdrop.

Laide Beach beach

Laide Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A sandy Wester Ross beach near Laide with year-round dog access, magnificent Torridonian mountain views and the empty, wild character of the north-west Highland coast.

Melvich Beach beach

Melvich Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A beautiful sandy beach at the Halladale river mouth in Melvich on the north Sutherland coast with year-round dog access and the big, open skies of the Caithness-Sutherland border.

Nairn Beach beach

Nairn Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A long sandy beach on the Moray Firth with year-round access and the sunniest climate in Scotland, backed by a pleasant seaside town.

Opinan Beach beach

Opinan Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A small, beautiful white sand cove south of Gairloch on the Wester Ross coast with year-round dog access and the quiet, hidden quality typical of the lesser-known Highland beaches.

Rosemarkie Beach beach

Rosemarkie Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A sandy Black Isle beach near Chanonry Point, the most reliable land-based dolphin watching spot in the UK, with year-round dog access and a village rich in Pictish heritage.

Stoer Beach beach

Stoer Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A sandy Sutherland beach near the Stoer peninsula, starting point for the walk to the Old Man of Stoer sea stack, with year-round dog access and outstanding coastal scenery.

Traigh Beach beach

Traigh Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 8/10

A beautiful, quiet white sand beach north of Arisaig beside the scenic Traigh Golf Course with year-round dog access and views to the Small Isles.

Armadale Beach beach

Armadale Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A quiet sandy beach on the Pentland Firth coast at Armadale village with year-round dog access and the open, windswept character of the north Sutherland coastline.

Brora Beach beach

Brora Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A wide sandy beach at the east Sutherland town of Brora with year-round dog access, a famous whisky distillery and golf course in town and views across the Moray Firth.

Cromarty Beach beach

Cromarty Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A sandy beach at the historic Black Isle seaport of Cromarty where the firth meets the Moray Firth, with year-round dog access and one of Scotland's finest preserved 18th-century townscapes nearby.

Embo Beach beach

Embo Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A sandy east Sutherland beach at Embo just north of Dornoch with year-round dog access, backing onto the famous Dornoch links golf course coastline.

Fortrose Beach beach

Fortrose Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A sandy Black Isle beach at Fortrose near the cathedral ruins and Chanonry Point dolphin watching spot with year-round dog access and views across the Beauly Firth.

Golspie Beach beach

Golspie Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A long sandy east Sutherland beach dominated by Dunrobin Castle above, with year-round dog access and the chance to combine the beach with a visit to one of Scotland's finest stately homes.

Portmahomack Beach beach

Portmahomack Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A sandy beach at the picturesque fishing village of Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula with year-round dog access and the excellent Tarbat Discovery Centre nearby.

Rispond Beach beach

Rispond Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A small, sheltered sandy beach near the abandoned village of Rispond on the north Sutherland coast with year-round dog access and an isolated, peaceful character.

Sangobeg Beach beach

Sangobeg Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A small sandy cove near Durness with vivid limestone-blue water, year-round dog access and the remote character of the most north-westerly corner of the Scottish mainland.

Strathy Beach beach

Strathy Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 7/10

A sandy beach on the north Sutherland coast near Strathy with year-round dog access and the wide-sky character of the Pentland Firth coastline.

Balintore Beach beach

Balintore Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 6/10

A quiet sandy beach at the east Ross village of Balintore near the famous Hilton of Cadboll Pictish stone, with year-round dog access and good connections to the area's outstanding Pictish heritage.

Nairn East Beach beach

Nairn East Beach

Highlands
Dog Friendly: 5/10

Nairn's beautiful sandy East Beach, known as the Brighton of the North, where dogs must be kept on leads at all times, though the wide sands and Moray Firth views still make for an excellent leashed beach walk.