The Pass of Drumochter ( gd, Druim Uachdair) meaning simply 'high ridge' is the main

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

between the northern and southern central

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

. The A9 road passes through here, as does the

Highland Main Line The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edi ...

, the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

between

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

and the south of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The Sustrans National Cycle Route 7 between

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and Inverness also runs through the pass. The pass is the only gap in the main Grampian Watershed suitable for road traffic routes for almost 100 km, between Glen Coe (west) and Cairnwell (east); the

West Highland Railway The West Highland Railway was a railway company that constructed a railway line from Craigendoran (on the River Clyde west of Glasgow, Scotland) to Fort William and Mallaig. The line was built through remote and difficult terrain in two stages ...

is the only other crossing, at

Corrour Corrour railway station is on the West Highland Line, near Loch Ossian on the Corrour Lodge#Corrour Estate, Corrour Estate, in the Highland (council area), Highland Region (formerly Inverness-shire) of Scotland. It is the highest mainline (railway ...

. The pass is a natural low point, where the headwaters of the

Spey Spey may refer to: *Spey River (disambiguation) *Spey casting, a fly fishing technique developed on the River Spey *Rolls-Royce Spey, an early turbofan engine * HMS ''Spey'', the name of seven ships of the Royal Navy * For spey-wife -- see Völva a ...

and

Tay Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

penetrate most deeply into the broad Gaick Plateau, with the River Garry flowing south, and the

River Truim A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

north. The gap has been shaped into a "U" convenient for a transport corridor by glacial action over successive ice ages, although

Loch Ericht Loch Ericht (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eireachd'') is a freshwater loch on the border between the former Perthshire, now Perth and Kinross and the former Inverness-shire, now Highlands Council areas of Scotland. It has a north-east to south-west ...

just to the west is a much larger glacial breach Hall AM and Jarman D (2004): Quaternary landscape evolution – plateau dissection by glacial breaching. In The Quaternary of the Central Grampian Highlands - Field Guide (edited by S. Lukas, J. Merritt, W. Mitchell). Quaternary Research Association, London, 26-40. The route through the pass has been used since

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

times. A military road built between 1728 and 1730 by General Wade came through here. It is the high point on the A9, at 460 m (1508 ft), and in winter can be subject to severe weather conditions. There are routine winter patrols from November to March, and the road is occasionally closed with snow gates near

Dalwhinnie Dalwhinnie ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Dail Chuinnidh'' "meeting place") is a small village in the Scottish Highlands. Dalwhinnie is located at the head of Glen Truim and the north-east end of Loch Ericht, on the western edge of the Cairngorms Natio ...

and Dalnacardoch. The summit of the railway line is 452 m (1480 ft), making it the highest in the UK. It has been used by the RAF as a training route for low level flying, now less frequently. Drumochter Summit 2064580 428eeeb2

It is isolated, and the nearest settlement of any size is the small village of Dalwhinnie, some to the north. The summit of the pass marks the boundary between

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

and the Highland Council area. A sign at this point says "Welcome to the Highlands/Fàilte don Ghàidhealtachd", although this is the boundary for the authority rather than for the

which extend south to the geological Highland Boundary Fault at Dunkeld.

References

External links

Image of Railway Summit Sign

Drumochter The Pass of Drumochter ( gd, Druim Uachdair) meaning simply 'high ridge' is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 road passes through here, as does the Highland Main Line, the railway betw ...

Roads in Scotland Badenoch and Strathspey Landforms of Perth and Kinross {{PerthKinross-geo-stub