Historic SiteHighlandHistoric Scotland4.6
Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Historic Scotland's site statement describes a parking area alongside the A9 on the north side of the road, with the route to the broch way-marked by metal posts, and ample parking on both sides; its visit page says only that visitors should take care crossing the main road. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown; reviewers call it free and ask drivers to keep the lay-by corners clear for lorries.
Driving pin: the parking area on the inland side of the A9, 238 m from Historic Scotland's own pin on the broch, about 3 miles north of Golspie. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.
Carn Liath is a broch, the sophisticated Iron Age tower found only in Scotland, standing on a low rise above a raised beach on the Moray Firth coast three miles north of Golspie, with the rare survival of the village that grew up around it. The solid-based tower stands about three metres high today, perhaps a third of its original height, and keeps a narrow ground-level entrance passage with a guard cell and and a stair between the walls that climbed to the upper floors. Inside the enclosure are the ruins of stone houses and outbuildings, the earliest contemporary with the broch. Reviewers park in the wide lay-by on the inland side of the A9, cross the busy road with care, turn right for the easier track, and allow half an hour for the broch and its views towards Dunrobin.
Historic Scotland: 'Carn Liath Broch is free to visit and is open year-round.' No hours, closures or notices on 20 October 2026; not on Historic Scotland's closures page. The broch interior is open; its deep floor chambers have been filled in for safety.
A short track between fenced field edges leads from the lay-by; strong footwear is recommended and the drystone ruin is uneven. Simple interpretation boards; no toilets or other facilities.
Photo: Carn Liath Broch on its rise above the Moray Firth, seen from the access track lined with gorse. Wojsyl, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scotland_Carn_Liath_Broch_1.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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