Where are the highest sea stacks in Scotland?

Scotland features over 275 sea stacks surrounded by water at high tide, with names rooted in Norse, Gaelic, Norn, and English. Among the tallest are Stac an Armin and Stac Lee in the St Kilda archipelago, alongside the famous Old Man of Hoy in Orkney. These vertical rock columns are formed through gradual coastal erosion and serve as popular challenges for rock climbers.

What we know

• There are 275 or more sea stacks in Scotland. [2]
• The highest sea stacks in Scotland include Stac an Armin, Stac Lee, and the Old Man of Hoy. [2]
• The Old Man of Hoy is a 137-metre sea stack formed from Old Red Sandstone. [4]
• In Shetland, where there are over 100 stacks, names are frequently derived from Norn. [2]

Still open

• Sources note that the Old Man of Hoy was created sometime after 1750, but its exact date of final separation from the main cliff remains an estimate.

Where to go next

• how it workedHow do sea stacks form from headlands?
• a case in pointWhat is the Old Man of Hoy?
• whenHow did rock climbing on Scottish stacks begin?
• whereSt Kilda archipelago
• the bigger pictureWhat are coastal geological landforms?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a rock climb become a major television broadcast?In July 1967, 15 million people watched the live BBC television broadcast of the ascent of the Old Man of Hoy.

Sources

• [1]list of sea stacks in Scotland (Wikidata Q105320832) · CC0 1.0
• [2]List of sea stacks in Scotland · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]List of sea stacks · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Old Man of Hoy · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Stack (geology) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Your path

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4. /Where are the highest sea stacks in Scotland?