The Volcanic Coast

Kincraig Neck, one of Scotland’s most spectacular old volcanoes, is made up of vast columns of jointed basalt rock, rising out of the sea, like an array of organ pipes. It is Fife’s equivalent to Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway: a stunning array of hexagonal structures formed millions of years ago when Scotland was a hotbed of geological and volcanic activity.

This activity has shaped much of today’s landscape. Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and the city’s castle rock are extinct volcanoes, while seen across the Firth of Forth from Fife, the Sidlaw Hills are also the remains of once towering mountains of fire.

The grandly named Kingdom of Fife is a pretty peninsula sandwiched between the Firth of Forth in the south, and the Firth of Tay in the north.

In total, the Fife Coastal Path runs from Kincardine to Newburgh over a distance of 117 miles, but for this route, we’ve chosen to cover the ‘bridge to bridge’ section from North Queensferry, just across The Forth Bridge from