Eagle Rock, Cramond

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland lists car parking among its facilities but names no car park, and says access is via the pathway from South Queensferry, under the rail bridge, into the Dalmeny Estate. The rock is on the west side of the River Almond mouth, so Cramond's car parks on the east bank are across the river. No official charge or free statement exists, so the status is recorded as unknown.

Driving pin: Historic Scotland's own pin on the rock, which has no road access. Reviewers describe a walk of 30 to 50 minutes from the main road, and Historic Scotland says the site is accessible by public transport.

About

Eagle Rock is a sandstone outcrop on the shore of the Firth of Forth, on the west side of the mouth of the River Almond opposite Cramond, carved with a weather-worn figure possibly of an eagle. It is thought to date from the Roman occupation of Cramond, between about AD 140 and the early 200s, when a fort there probably served a harbour supplying the garrisons on the Antonine Wall. Already in 1794 the figure was described as a rude sculpture bearing some resemblance to an eagle standing upright with its back to the rock, and others suggest a human figure, perhaps the god Mercury. The shore looks out to Cramond Island over Drum Sands, an internationally important feeding and roosting place for wading birds and wildfowl. The rock is reached only on foot, along the shore path through the Dalmeny Estate from South Queensferry. Reviewers say the carving is very faint, so come for the walk and the beach as much as the rock.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Eagle Rock, CramondOpen at all times; an unstaffed shore site reached on foot, no hours published

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'Eagle Rock is free to visit and is open year-round.' No hours, closures or notices on 20 October 2026.

The rock stands at the top of a sandy beach on the Firth of Forth, with a plaque on its face; the carving is very worn. The shore path through the Dalmeny Estate is hard going in places. No toilets or other facilities on this side of the river.

Photo: The sandstone outcrop of Eagle Rock with its plaque, on the sandy shore of the Firth of Forth at low tide. Alan Slater, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eagle_Rock_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3280498.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.