Glen Strathfarrar ( gd, Srath Farair) is a

glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

region 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 ...

, near

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for clai ...

. The Glen is part of the

Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme The Affric / Beauly hydro-electric power scheme for the generation of hydro-electric power is located in the western Highlands of Scotland. It is based around Glen Strathfarrar, Glen Cannich and Glen Affric, and Strathglass further downstream. ...

, with a dam at Loch Monar and a 9 km tunnel carrying water to an underground power station at Deanie; a second dam just below Loch Beannacharan feeds a tunnel carrying water to Culligran power station (also underground). The Monar dam at Loch Monar is the largest

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthen ...

in Britain. The central section of Glen Strathfarrar (covering 4027 ha) is designated as a national scenic area, one of forty such areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The area covered by the NSA represents the section of the glen least affected by the hydro-electric scheme, and includes the Culligran Falls.

Etymology

Glen Strathfarrar is named for the River Farrar, recorded in Roman times as ''Varrar''. The name is from ''*h2uer'', "flowing water" (c.f. the ''-wery-'' element in

Tryweryn The Tryweryn is a river in the north of Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in the Snowdonia National Park and after joins the river Dee at Bala. One of the main tributaries of the Dee, it was dammed in 1965 to form Llyn Celyn, drowning the ...

). Other etymologies have involved an Old Pictish element ''*var'', apparently meaning "to wind", the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''varius'' with a connotation of "bending river", and an

Old Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celtic ...

''*vo-arar'' meaning "gentle river". Other hypothesizes connect ''Farrar'' with a river in modern-day France known in Latin as '' Arar'', allegedly connected to Welsh, ''araf'' meaning "fast". The full name is a curious 'Gaelicisation' of the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

: as a strath is an elongated glen, a title of 'Glen Strath' is tautological, and it is therefore likely that an English-only speaker, ignorant of the meaning of 'Strath' when transcribing the map of the location, recorded that this was the 'Glen of Strathfarrar'.

Geography

The River Farrar ( gd, Farar / Uisge Farair) is formed as the waters of the Uisge Misgeach and the Garbh-uisge merge around 2 km after the latter exits Loch Monar. The river then adopts a sinuous course along the flat floor of the glen, running eastwards through two lochs, Loch a' Mhuillidh and Loch Beannacharan, which is dammed as part of the

. The river then continues east, passing over Culligran Falls, before merging with the waters of the River Glass to form the

River Beauly The River Beauly ( gd, Abhainn nam Manach, ) is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness. It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the ...

below Struy Bridge near the village of

Struy Struy ( gd, An t-Srùigh or gd, Sruidh) is a small village at the end of Glen Strathfarrar, about 15 km south-west of Beauly in the Highland council area of Scotland. Description The confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass is ...

.Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale Landranger map sheets 25 ''Glen Carron'' and 26 ''Inverness'' There are a number of mountains on either side of the glen, many of which are popular with walkers. These include the

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

s of Sgùrr a' Choire Ghlais, Sgurr Fhuar-thuill, Càrn nan Gobhar and Sgurr na Ruaidhe to the north, as well as Sgùrr na Lapaich, another Càrn nan Gobhar, An Riabhachan and An Socach to the south.D. Bennet & R. Anderson. ''The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers Guide'', pp. 197-201. Published 2016. There are also two

Corbetts This is a list of Corbett mountains in Scotland by height. Corbetts are defined as Scottish mountains between in height with a prominence over ; solely imperial measurement thresholds. The first list was compiled in the 1920s by John Rooke Co ...

- Beinn a' Bha'ach Ard and Sgorr na Dìollaid.R. Milne & H Brown. ''The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills - Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide'', pp. 192-193. Published 2002.

Natural heritage

Glen Strathfarrar contains several areas of Caledonian Forest, the name given to the remnants of the

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...

of Scotland composed chiefly of

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

trees that first colonised the area after the last Ice Age 8–10,000 years ago, and which forms an important habitat for species such as

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...

crested tit The crested tit or European crested tit (''Lophophanes cristatus'') (formerly ''Parus cristatus''), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and north ...

and the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Scottish crossbill The Scottish crossbill (''Loxia scotica'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to the Caledonian Forests of Scotland, and is the only terrestrial vertebrate species endemic to the United Kingdom. The Scottish ...

. Since the late 18th century commercial timber extraction (especially during the two

world war A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

s) and human settlement have contributed to the serious deterioration of the woodland. In addition to the pinewood, there are areas of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, and more open areas of heather,

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...

and grass.

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

, and

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

s are all known to inhabit the area, which also hosts several

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

species. Glen Strathfarrar is designated as part of both

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

and a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

under the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

programme, as well as being designated as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (A