Fossil Walks 2025
- UNDER 16 WITH PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN
Our exciting adventures through deep time return for 2025 - join an experienced guide and hunt for fossils on Cromarty beach!
Select date and time
Location
Hugh Miller's Birthplace Cottage & Museum
Church Street Cromarty IV11 8XA United KingdomRefund Policy
About this event
Fossil Walks are BACK for 2025!
Join us for a guided walk along Cromarty beach with an experienced guide to discover the rocks, fossils, and geological formations that captivated Hugh Miller...
- Travel back to a time 140 million years before the first dinosaur to discover a Scotland below the equator; one where strange ancient fish swam in a lake that covered almost all of the Highlands!
- Take part in active citizen science as we search for fossils, and have your name go alongside any new discoveries made and displayed at Hugh Miller's Birthplace Museum!
- See Cromarty beach in a new light as we look at the geological processes that have shaped this famous stretch of coastline!
- Tours are subject to tide times, taking place during either a low or falling tide. Tours depart from the Birthplace Museum - please arrive no later than ten minutes before tour sets off to check in.
- As Cromarty is an exposed shingle beach we advise wearing appropriate outdoor clothing for the walk - particularly outdoor, waterproof footwear
- Tours will last approx. 90 minutes - we advise using facilities if necessary before departing on the tour. Toilet facilities are available at Hugh Miller's Birthplace Museum.
- Please note as Cromarty experiences slow erosion that fossils are not guaranteed on every tour.
- Only service and guide dogs are permitted on our Fossil Walks
- All attendees under the age of 18 MUST be accompanied by a parent or guardian and cannot be left unattended during the walks.
Our fossil walks will be operating in compliance with the Scottish Fossil Code. Therefore fossils collected from the beach will remain at Hugh Miller's Birthplace Museum on display for the duration of one month before being returned to the beach.
We strongly recommend reading over the Scottish Fossil Code before taking part in our walk - www.nature.scot/scottish-fossil-code
Frequently asked questions
Whilst people do recreationally collect fossils from Cromarty beach, as we are a conservation charity any fossils discovered on the walks will remain at the museum for a month before being returned to the beach. However, discoverers names will go alongside any fossils found whilst on display.
As a conservation charity we will be attempting to do as little damage to the shoreline as possible so we ask if you can please leave any geological tools at home.
Due to the slow erosion that occurs on Cromarty beach, and over a hundred years worth of collecting taking place, we cannot guarantee fossils on every single walk. However, our team will do our best to ensure you get the most from your experience with us on the shoreline.
Our walks always take place on a falling or low tide to ensure maximum safety. Consequently this means each week tours will go out at different times. We aim to always have two tours each week, but some weeks will have only one tour or no tour at all based on tide timings.
Only guide and service dogs are permitted on our beach guided tours.