The Butt of Lewis — the northern tip of Lewis — is one of the most exposed headlands in Britain. The red-brick lighthouse here, built in 1862, stands at the edge of cliffs above the open Atlantic. The sea stacks below are nesting grounds for gannets, fulmars, and puffins in summer; in winter, the same cliffs are among the best places in Britain to watch storm petrels and other seabirds driven inshore by Atlantic gales.
In strong winds, the headland is almost impossible to stand on. The lighthouse is automated; the keepers' cottages are now holiday lets. The drive north through Lewis to reach the Butt passes through open moorland with wide views in all directions.