Loch Lochy
is ten miles long and is a link in the chain of lochs which
were joined up by Telford to form the
Caledonian Canal a hundred and fifty years ago.
At its narrow north-east end the loch is joined up to the small
and shallow Loch Oich by means of the Laggan Locks. To the west
are the ranges of the Glengarry
Forest. Ben Tee (2,956 feet), Sron a’ Choire Ghairbh (3,066
feet) and Meall Coire Lochain (2,971 feet). Below these towering
peaks is Kilfinnan, scene of a desperate Clan battle in 1544
when the Macdonalds and the Camerons almost wiped out the Clan
Fraser and at Tobar
nan Ceann, the Well of Heads, is a grim reminder of the vengeance
of one of the former Macdonald chiefs.
Equally
impressive are the great mountains to the east of the loch,
from Cam Dearg (2,677 feet) in the north
down through Beinn Iaruinn (2,636 feet) to Coire Ceirsle Hill
overlooking Spean Bridge. This area was a training ground for
Commandos during World War II and just outside Spean Bridge
is a magnificent memorial to those who died. Further east, in
the heart of these hills, is Glen Roy with its curious ‘parallel
roads’, shelves left by the
receding glaciers of the Ice Age. More historic connections
are to be found to the west of the loch, where the waters of
the short river Arkaig flow from the loch of the same name.
