The Real Mystery of Outlander’s Craigh Na Dun

The standing stones that are not where they are supposed to be…

Outlander’s Craigh Na Dun — TV series

If you are an Outlander fan as I am and you enjoy Scottish history, culture and traditions, the famous ‘Craigh Na Dun’ may ring a bell.

In Celtic history, there have been many standing stones, such as the Stonehenge in Wiltshire County (South England), which are basically large stones set standing upright on the ground in the middle of nothing, appearing in lines, circles or random groups, and were most likely built by Neolithic people (that’s between 4000 BC and 1500 BC!). There are theories that these types of stones met religious important places, or they lined up with the phases of the moon throughout the year.

Now, let me tell you that in Outlander, the iconic standing stones where Claire Randall time travels to 18th-century Scotland are a bit complicated to find on a map… When I went to Scotland last summer, I wanted to enjoy a marvellous Outlander Tour, and I got really mixed up when I realised about the Craigh Na Dun stones…

Are you ready to learn the truth about Outlander’s standing stones?

CALLANISH STONES — Inspiration Standing Stones

Craigh Na Dun represents a circle of standing stones which does not exist but it was inspired by a real circle of stones, the Callanish Stones, located on the Isle of Lewis (quite North of Scotland).

Callanish Stones (Wikipedia)

CRAIGH NA DUN — Location in ‘Outlander’

When filming the TV series Outlander, the (fake) standing stones of Craigh Na Dun, made of polystyrene, were placed on the private property of Dunalastair, near Kinloch Rannoch (Perhshire). As you can see the picture below (the already mentioned location) does not have any standing stone around.

Film location at Dunalastair — Kinloch Rannoch (Perhshire)

CLAVA CAIRNS — The Real Stones in Inverness

Finally, the real standing stones that were supposed to represent Craigh Na Dun, the ones near the Highland’s capital of Inverness, were the Clava Cairns, just in the suburbs of the city.

Clava Cairns — Inverness

Let’s have a look at the map…

To visually sum it up, I created the following map to see, indeed, where are all of those places I have mentioned, and to realise there is, in fact, quite a distance among them.

Map of Scotland with important cities and standing stones (by author)

I was so disappointed when I had already planned my trip and realised I could not visit the real Outlander stones, but I learned the truth — the cinema industry always has an ace up its sleeve to create the perfect atmosphere.

P.S. — I visited the Clava Cairn’s and I am still here, so they did not work.