Introduction Crammag Head is a mixed area of granite sea-cliffs south of Stranraer, on the coast of the North Channel near the Mull of Galloway. This is one of the very best of the sea cliff areas, easy access, friendly route approaches and great quality granite make for an enjoyable experience. It's a good place to see porpoises and seals too. Furthermore the area seems to be particularly prone to sunshine, and is pretty much as near to tropical rock climbing as you'll get in Scotland..! There is a short approach down a farm track and over a couple of fields.
This page was compiled by John Biggar, a professional Mountaineering Instructor and member of the AMI, who lives in SW Scotland. Contact me (details above) if you want to know more about climbing in Galloway or want to learn how to climb or abseil. This page was compiled with care, but it is not guaranteed error free. The crags are mostly tidal, with all routes accessible at low tide, but many routes are still accessible at high tide and some are completely on dry land.
Sally Bennett on the crux moves of the very pleasant Razamatazz, HVS, Crammag Head, Mull of Galloway. Warm rock and great light in February. Picture courtesy of Stephen Reid at Needlesports. The header picture shows Ian and Kate Brown on Firearms Certificate and Linda Biggar seconding the Barricades of Heaven on the Pink Slab.
Access To get here follow the A77 or A75 towards Stranraer then the A716 down the east shore of the Rhinns to Drummore village. From here follow the B7041 then an unnamed minor road westwards to Slockmill farm. The cliffs lie near and also south of the lighthouse, across a couple of fields. The smaller, friendlier areas (a good place to start) are directly under the lighthouse, known as the lighthouse walls, and also at the extreme south on the Pink Slab. The bigger crags are about 100-200m south of the lighthouse.
Guidebook For a definitive list of all the climbs at Crammag head and nearby Crammag South see the SMC published Lowland Outcrops guidebook.
The Main areas at Crammag, from north to south are
Dangers This is a granite sea cliff with generally good rock, but areas of dubious rock do exist on the bigger cliffs. Protection is not always easy to find on a few of the slabby routes; small wires, including micros, and small cams are particularly useful. This is a very open stretch of coast so the crag will be hazardous in big seas or high winds and the area is very open to rapid weather changes.
Lighthouse Walls
The most northerly area, reached by following the concrete steps from the lighthouse, then descending a gully on the right is the Lighthouse Wall. The routes here are very short, but on good quality rock. A couple of these routes will be hard to get to at the highest tides. Marine Boy was climbed and named in August 1996, but is described as Little Flasher, with a first ascent in 1999 in the current guidebook. It and Poisoned Ocean are probably the best of the routes here.
About 50m further south is a beautiful pink slab - Hourglass Slab. Reach this by a longish scramble down either side, this is possible at all but the highest tides or biggest seas. This slab is due west of the lighthouse (not South as in the guidebook). If climbing several routes it will be quicker to abseil into this area. The routes here are only 10-15m long, but on excellent rock....
Between routes 1 and 2 is an easy Severe variation through the overlap and there is also an easier Severe finish to Bully Beef up and right. Also to the left of the routes on this diagram (about 10 or 20m) is a groove, with broken blocks further up, bordered by a blocky rib on the right - both routes are easier than they look at Diff. The groove in particular is an excellent climb.
Viking Zawn
This area lies south of the old coastguard lookout, which itself is about 100m south of the lighthouse. It is immediately to the east of the long narrow (S-N) inlet of Gabarrunning, which is marked on the 1:25,000 OS map. The north wall of Viking Zawn can be reached by traversing in from the west, at most states of the tides. The south wall, seen on the right in the photo below, is trickier to get to requiring a long abseil to small ledges.....
Kittiwake Zawn & Carrick Walls
These two areas are a little bit trickier to get to, the cliffs are bigger and there are more problems with seabirds in this area. The walls are located maybe 100m or so south of Viking Zawn. A picture of Kittiwake Zawn below, the climbing doesn't look all that inspiring. The Carrick Walls reputedly have some very good routes but its very hard to get a good photo of them from dry land.
Kittiwake Zawn at Crammag Head.
The Carrick Walls at Crammag Head.
Pink Slab
This area and the Slockmill Pinnalce are about 10 minutes walk southwards on the coast from the lighthouse. The Pink Slab has some excellent but quite bold climbing on a huge and very flat granite slab on the north side of a narrow inlet (Zawn Off Shotgun). To get here from the lighthouse head east over the hill of Crammag Head (called Carrick Hill) to reach a small inlet called Sloucheen Slunk, southeast of Crammag Hill: from the head of the inlet walk about 200m south parallel to the shore and you will be right on top of the slab, in fact you'll be right over the top if you shut your eyes. Access to the routes is by a fairly tricky (Moderate) scramble down towards the seaward end of the slab, then a traverse along a long narrow ledge about 2-3 metres above the high tide line.
Slockmill Pinnacle
Just a hundred metres south of the Pink Slab is the Slockmill Pinnacle. The rock here is Greywacke but there are a couple of good climbs on this pinnacle including a severe up the west face. Access to these routes is easily by scrambling down form the north. There is a photo below, further details to follow soon on this website.
Slockmill Pinnacle, Crammag Head, Galloway.
Topping out on a route at the lighthouse Walls, Crammag Head, in the background you can see the Point of the Cleugh and (further away) Laggantalluch Head climbing areas with the north end of the Rhinns still further away.
For information on tourist services in this area see the Mull of Galloway website.
