Entrance chamber
A huge mouth.
Florian Fuchs — CC BY 3.0 · Xavier Dengra — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bewahrerderwerte — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bewahrerderwerte — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bewahrerderwerte — CC BY-SA 4.0
Smoo Cave is a large combined sea cave and freshwater cave at Durness in Sutherland, in the far north of the Scottish Highlands, about 2 km east of the village. Its name may come from the Norse for a narrow cleft, or from the Gaelic for fine spray, after its waterfall. The cave formed in Early Ordovician dolomites along two lines of weakness, carved by the sea on one side and an underground stream on the other. It is unique in Britain in that its first chamber was formed by the sea, while the inner chambers are freshwater passages dissolved out of the rock by rainwater. It has three main sections: a huge sea-cave entrance chamber with a wide mouth in a rock cliff, a waterfall chamber where the Allt Smoo drops 20 metres through a hole in the roof, and a short freshwater passage. A green rocky gully leads to the entrance and ends at a small bay on the ocean. Visitors walk down steps from the clifftop to the entrance, then enter the great chamber and hear the waterfall roaring inside. The ground is wet and slippery, so wear good shoes; the area is remote, in the far north of Scotland.
A huge mouth.
Through the roof.
To the sea.
Durness, Sutherland, Scottish Highlands
Good shoes; it is slippery.
20 metres.