Loch Ness's quieter side
Dores
A long stony beach, classic views down Loch Ness, a woodland circuit and an outdoor food stop beside the water.
- Best for
- Loch views and woodland walking
- Give it
- Two hours for the Torr Woods circular
- Don't miss
- The view southwest from Dores Beach
The Fox verdict
The quieter shore of Loch Ness
Dores brings together a long stony beach, a compact woodland circuit and a small set of useful village stops.
Come for the classic view southwest down Loch Ness, then follow the shore through Torr Woods, visit the 1828 parish church or stop at the outdoor Dores Inn pop-up. Bookable alpaca visits at Balachladaich and the Falls of Foyers extend the day beyond the village.
Where to go
Places in Dores
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesDores Parish Church of Scotland
A Category C listed church built in 1828, with rubble walls, ashlar dressings, Y-tracery gable windows, a later Gothic bellcote and a burial ground with 18th- and 19th-century stones.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Dores
Loch Ness and Torr Woods Circular
A 7 km circular following the shore and Torr Woods, with views of Meall Fuar Mhonaidh, Aldourie jetty and castle and possible red-squirrel or roe-deer sightings.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow 1.5–2 hours
- Locality
- starting at the church car park
- Access
- The route follows the stony shore and uses mostly good woodland paths and forest tracks.
Falls of Foyers
A 140 ft waterfall viewed from points reached by a woodland path and steep steps.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- farther south on the same shore
- Access
- A woodland path and steep steps lead to viewpoints over the waterfall.
Food & drink
1 placeThe Dores Inn Pop-Up
An outdoor pop-up in the inn grounds with two food trucks, a large stretch tent and wooden tables.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- beside Dores Beach
Walks & outdoors
1 placeDores Beach
A long stony beach with the classic view southwest down Loch Ness, Meall Fuar Mhonaidh across the water and woods around Torr Point.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- at the north-eastern end of Loch Ness
Things to do
1 placeLoch Ness Alpacas
Bookable meet-and-feed visits and walks with alpacas Zodiac, Aero and Cosmic through woods to the beach.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Balachladaich
- Access
- Meet-and-feed visits and walks are bookable.
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Three ways to explore Dores
Signature outings
The long Loch Ness view
Stand on the long stony beach for the classic view southwest down Loch Ness towards Meall Fuar Mhonaidh.
A walk with alpacas
Book a meet-and-feed visit or walk with Zodiac, Aero and Cosmic through the woods to the beach.
Dores parish church
Look for Y-tracery windows, the later Gothic bellcote and burial stones from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The village story
Dores Village Guide
A monster hunter, a long stony shore and the quieter side of Loch Ness.
The watcher on the shore
A caravan sits on the shingle at Dores Beach, and the man inside it makes model monsters. Steve Feltham gave up his job, his home and his relationship and began a full-time search for the Loch Ness monster on 18 July 1991, after a childhood visit had stayed with him. He is still here, and his caravan and model-making base are now part of the village. "I still love the possibility that it's just going to happen suddenly," he says.
The water he watches is the reason most people come. Dores sits at the north-eastern end of Loch Ness, where a long stony beach opens the classic view southwest down the loch, with the hill of Meall Fuar Mhonaidh standing across the far side and woods wrapping round Torr Point. It is the quieter side of the loch.
Food and village provisions
An outdoor food pop-up runs in the Dores Inn grounds beside the beach, with two food trucks, a large stretch tent and wooden tables. The food trucks serve flatbreads filled with venison salami, pickles and smoked Dunlop cheese; crispy cod with tartare sauce and a crushed-pea salad; a smash burger and fries from the outside counter; organic ice cream, strawberry sorbet and fresh garden juices. Cromarty Brewing's Happy Chappy has also appeared at the counter.
Ness Gifts is an independent shop stocking Scottish makers — jewellery, knitwear, blankets, soaps, candles, glassware, honey, toys, dog accessories and books, including pieces by ANTA. It also runs a mobile Post Office service. Local provision is limited to the gift shop and seasonal beach outlets.
Walks through Dores
From the church car park a circular walk of about four and a quarter miles follows the shore through Torr Woods, past Feltham's caravan and a playground, with a chance of red squirrels or roe deer and views across to the Aldourie jetty and castle. The castle grew from a sixteenth-century tower during Victorian times; the walk passes its grounds without entering them. A longer Loch Ness 360 trail runs 10.25 miles to Inverness, passing MacBain Memorial Park — laid out in 1961 by Hughston McBain, twenty-first chief of the clan, to restore an old family link with the land — before the Moray Firth and the Kessock Bridge come into view.
The parish church was built in 1828, though a church has stood at Dores since 1233. It is built of rubble walls and dressed stone, with Y-traceried windows, a later Gothic bellcote, an octagonal panelled pulpit and a galleried interior. The burial ground keeps stones from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Alpacas and the road south
For younger visitors, Loch Ness Alpacas at Balachladaich takes bookings to meet and feed the animals and walk them down through the woods to the beach; the males are called Zodiac, Aero and Cosmic.
Dores is eight miles from Inverness, about fifteen minutes by car, and sits at the junction of the B862 and B852, the latter carrying on down the south shore to Foyers, where a path and steps lead to viewpoints over the 140-foot Falls of Foyers. Bus 302 links Inverness with Dores and Foyers. Summer parking can be pressured.
Festival echoes and an open question
For eight summers from 2006 the RockNess festival filled nearby Clune Farm with tens of thousands of people; it stopped in 2013, but its benefit fund lives on through the community trust, handing out small grants and bursaries. North of the village, a scheduled cropmark marks the post-pits of a late prehistoric timber roundhouse, at least fourteen metres across.
The loch gives nothing away. Feltham watches it anyway.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Dores Beach — visitinvernesslochness.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Dores Inn Pop-Up — wildlandengagement.scot other published source
- Dores Parish Church of Scotland — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- Loch Ness and Torr Woods Circular — visitinvernesslochness.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Loch Ness Alpacas — lochnessalpacas.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Falls of Foyers — visitinvernesslochness.com operator, sector body or destination organisation