Traditionally the beach was known as Traigh Allt Chailgeag – the beach of the burn of bereavement and death. This referred to a story of how an elderly woman fell into the burn, which flows onto the beach, and drowned. The burn Allt Chailgeag, was in spate at the time and her body was washed down to the shore.

Traigh Allt Chailgeag is an attractive cliff-foot beach easily visible from the main north coast road about three miles east of Durness. The beach is about 400 yards long and is gently shelving, the inter-tidal zone being nearly 300 yards wide. From the cliff top backing the beach an attractive view is obtained across the mouth of Loch Eriboll towards Whiten Head

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The beach area is very sheltered from the west and south by the high cliff backing the beach, but exposure to the northeast quarter is strong. Not only is the beach fully open to winds from this direction, but the fetch is very much wider than for most of the other beaches of the Durness group

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The pattern of use is that of the short visit. The beach, being an attractive one close to but some way below the road draws many tourists on the course of their journey along the north coast. Most of the visits are, however, very brief; the tourists just walk down to the beach from their cars, go a short distance along it and then return.