South Stack is one of Anglesey’s must-see landscapes.

Landscape

It is located on Holy Island, and is Anglesey’s most westerly point, lying some 3 miles to the west of Holyhead. The cliffs at South Stack support large colonies of seabirds. It is possible to see them from the RSPB’s Ellin’s Tower observatory. The reserve also has a visitor centre and a café with plenty of parking.

The area has an amazing seascape, with magnificent views of the Llyn Peninsula and Bardsey Island. It is even possible to see Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains on a clear day!

The spectacular 300ft / 100m high sea cliffs can be viewed from the path leading to the lighthouse. The wonderful folded and faulted rock formations are thought to be of the Cambrian era, although their origin has been the subject of much debate over the years.

This area contains many interesting archaeological sites, including the Tŷ Mawr hut circles, which comprise some 8 small farmsteads dating from some 4000 years ago. There are also some interesting field systems which are noticeable on the headland to the south east of South Stack.

Wildlife

Situated on Holy Island’s northwest coast, the area is directly accessible from the Anglesey Coastal Path.

There is a large car park at the RSPB reserve, which is adjacent to a visitor centre and café. South Stack’s huge seabird colony is home to many different species, including guillemots, razorbills, puffins, and kittiwakes and Manx shearwaters and gannets are sometimes seen off the coast.

Peregrine falcons and choughs also nest at South Stack.

You can get amazing close-up views of the nesting birds at Ellin’s Tower, which contains binoculars, telescopes and live CCTV images streamed directly from the cliff face!

South Stack also has the largest area of maritime heathland in North Wales, which contains a vast number of plant species like thrift, kidney vetch, spring squill, greater stitchwort, lousewort, sea campion and seaside centaury.

Some of the rare plants that can be found there include spotted rock-rose (Anglesey’s county flower), and spathulate fleawort – which grows nowhere else in the world except for the heathland of Holy Island! The rocky heather- covered cliffs support breeding chough and peregrine, and during the summer, the air can be full of the melodious song of skylarks.

As well as its fabulous collection of birds, South Stack is a good place to see reptiles including adder and common lizard, which you can see – if you’re quiet - basking in sunny spots in the heathland.

There are also many different types of butterflies and moths including silver studded blue, large skipper, small pearl-bordered fritillary, shark moth, white ermine moth, and gold spot moth. You may also see stoats and weasels, playfully frolicking around in the heathland areas.