Historic SiteArgyll and ButeHistoric Scotland4.7
Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
Forestry and Land Scotland's Achnabreac car park on the forest road off the A816, £1 for up to an hour or £3 all day, Blue Badge holders free; a 10-minute forest walk to the first carvings. Not a Trust car park, so membership does not cover it.
The rock art sits in Forestry and Land Scotland's Achnabreac forest, whose car park charges £1 for up to an hour and £3 for all day, payable by card or RingGo; Blue Badge holders park free. Historic Scotland says visitors with disabilities can use the easy access parking further uphill on the forest road, from which an 800 m wide gravel trail leads to the upper outcrop.
Driving pin: the Achnabreac car park, 442 m west of Historic Scotland's own pin on the rocks. The forest road is signposted off the A816 outside Cairnbaan, 2 miles north of Lochgilphead; the car park is about 500 m along it. Buses between Lochgilphead and Tayvallich stop at Bridgend and Cairnbaan nearby.
Achnabreck, in Achnabreac Forest above Lochgilphead, has one of the finest displays of prehistoric rock art in Scotland, spread over several sheets of bare rock and believed to be about 5,000 years old. Some of its motifs are among the largest and most complex in the country: cups surrounded by up to twelve rings and more than a metre across, with ringed stars, parallel grooves and spirals that resemble Irish carvings and suggest wide contacts. Some carvings overlie others in different styles, so they built up over a long time. Apart from the occasional axe, the art is abstract, with no animals or people. Visitors see the fenced outcrops from boardwalks and viewing platforms with information panels. The site lies in the ancient kingdom of Dalriada, centred on Dunadd just to the north, with views over Loch Gilp. From Forestry and Land Scotland's car park it is a ten-minute forest walk to the first carvings, or a 45-minute loop on the Cup and Ring Trail, steep and muddy in places.
Historic Scotland: 'Achnabreck Rock Art is free to visit and open year-round.' No hours, closures or notices on 20 October 2026; not on Historic Scotland's closures page. Historic Scotland's directory lists it as 'Kilmartin Glen: Achnabreck Rock Art'. Forestry and Land Scotland reports forestry works nearby: its Firetower mountain bike trail is closed but walking tracks are unaffected; watch for timber lorries on the forest road.
Forestry and Land Scotland's Cup and Ring Trail (2 km, about 45 minutes) reaches both viewing areas on an uneven gravel path with steep, narrow and muddy sections and boardwalk steps. The easier Rock Art Trail (800 m) from the easy access parking is wide, firm gravel to a viewing board and panel; the path on to the lower outcrop is steeper and that outcrop is reached over a stile. No toilets on site: the nearest are in Lochgilphead.
Photo: A sheet of dark rock at Achnabreck covered in prehistoric cup-and-ring marks, some with several rings, between grassy edges. Sandy Gerrard, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Achnabreck_cup_and_ring_marked_rock_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6710117.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog access not confirmed
1.25 miles / 2 km, allow 45 minutes, moderate: 'Search for two great viewing areas of cup and ring carvings'; uneven gravel path with some narrow, grassy and potentially muddy sections, some steep slopes and boardwalk steps; look out for vehicles on the forest road. Starts from the charged Achnabreac car park.
Dog access not confirmed
0.5 miles / 0.8 km, allow 15 minutes, easy (most accessible): wide, firm, smooth gravel from the easy access parking up the forest road to a viewing board and interpretation panel at one of the carved outcrops, with views over Loch Gilp to Arran.
