Culloden Battlefield Walk

The Culloden Battlefield Walk explores the site of the last pitched battle fought on British soil — the final, devastating defeat of the Jacobite rising on 16 April 1746, where Charles Edward Stuart's Highland army was crushed by Hanoverian forces under the Duke of Cumberland.

The route starts at the National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre, with a pay-and-display car park. Waymarked footpaths lead out across the battlefield itself, now restored to reflect its appearance on the day of the battle, with flags marking the positions of the opposing forces. The path passes the Memorial Cairn, built by the local landowner in 1881 near the mass graves of many of the Jacobite dead, and the restored Leanach Cottage, a possible survivor from the time of the battle with its photogenic thatched roof. Further points of interest include the Well of the Dead, where wounded Highlanders were reputedly killed after the fighting ended.

For a longer route, the walk can be extended into Culloden Woods, taking in the Lord President's Seat — a large stone set against a tree trunk, dedicated to Duncan Forbes of Culloden, who supported the government during the rising — as well as St Mary's Well, an ancient "clootie well" where visitors traditionally tie strips of cloth to nearby trees for good luck, and the Prisoners' Stone, marking the site where seventeen of Bonnie Prince Charlie's men were shot and clubbed to death three days after the battle. This woodland loop can also be combined with a further detour south-east to the beautiful prehistoric Clava Cairns, one of Scotland's finest Bronze Age burial sites, set among mature beech trees.

This is an atmospheric, easy walk on generally good paths suitable for most visitors, including those with prams or access needs on the core battlefield trail, though the wider woodland extension has some uneven, muddy sections.

Parking at the Culloden Visitor Centre is chargeable (with an additional charge for museum entry); the Murray Road bus stop in Culloden and the Visitor Centre itself both have bus connections.