Loch Broom ( gd, Lochbraon, "loch of rain showers") is a sea loch located in northwestern

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

, in the former parish of Lochbroom, on the west coast 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 small town of

Ullapool Ullapool (; gd, Ulapul ) is a village and port located in Northern Scotland. Ullapool has a population of around 1,500 inhabitants. It is located around northwest of Inverness in Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. Despite its modest size, ...

lies on the eastern shore of the loch.

Little Loch Broom

Its sister loch, Little Loch Broom ( gd, An Loch Beag, "the little loch"), lies just to the west, at the foot of

An Teallach An Teallach (Scottish Gaelic for 'the forge' or 'the anvil') is a mountain group in Wester Ross, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It lies west of Dundonnell Forest, north of Loch na Sealga, and south of Little Loch Broom. Its highest peak ...

and opening into

the Minch The Minch ( gd, An Cuan Sgitheanach, ', ', '), also called North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Scottish Highlands, Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It ...

. The village of

Dundonnell Dundonnell (Gaelic: Achadh Dà Dhòmhnaill) is a village in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, on the south side of Little Loch Broom and at the foot of An Teallach, right at the north of the area commonly known as the " Great Wilderness". It is situ ...

is located at the mouth of the loch, linked by the A832 coast road to Camusnagaul on the eastern shore, midway up the loch, and

Badcaul Badcaul ( gd, Bada Call) is a village in Highland, Scotland, on the southern shore of Little Loch Broom and is a village in the Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plate ...

further north. The loch is an important wildlife habitat, and a population of

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s often bask on the rocks jutting out of the water.

Geography

Loch Broom

Loch Broom is fed by the

River Broom 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 wat ...

which rises in the Dirrie mountains, issuing from two lochs:

Loch Bhraoin ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

and

Loch Droma ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spel ...

. Loch Broom feeds the River Cuileig, which is joined by the Allt Breabaig stream that rises in Sgùrr Breac to the south. Loch Droma feeds the river Droma. The two rivers join close to Cuileig Power Station, southeast of Loch Broom, passing Lael Forest before joining the loch as a fast flowing river with a strong current. Loch Broom opens from

at a width of , extends southeast, and contains the

Summer Isles The Summer Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Samhraidh, ) are an archipelago lying in the mouth of Loch Broom, in the Highland region of Scotland. Geography Tanera Mòr is the largest island and was the last one to remain inhabited.Kane, Jenny (20 Nov ...

. It ramifies into Loch Broom proper in the North, with the sea loch,

Loch Kanaird ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spellin ...

to the northeast close to

Isle Martin Isle Martin ( gd, Eilean Mhàrtainn) is an uninhabited island in Loch Broom, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the closest of the Summer Isles to Ullapool and has been the site of a monastery, a herring curing station and a flour mill. Now reco ...

, which overlooks

Annat Bay Annat may refer to: In geography * Annat, a settlement in the Highland region of Scotland * Annat, a settlement in the Argyll and Bute region of Scotland Other uses * Anat Anat (, ), Anatu, classically Anath (; uga, 𐎓𐎐𐎚 ''ʿnt''; ...

on the

Scoraig Scoraig ( gd, Sgoraig) is a settlement located on a remote peninsula between Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom, north-west of Ullapool in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. The 1871 census recorded more than 380 Gaelic-speaking inhabitants o ...

peninsula to the west which separates Loch Broom from Little Loch Broom in the middle and

Gruinard Bay Gruinard Bay is a large remote coastal embayment, located 12 miles north of Poolewe, in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, and is in the former parish of Lochbroom, in the west coast of Scotland. Settlements Gruinard Bay has a number of settlement ...

in the South. At its opening to the sea, Loch Broom is wide, and extends southeast; contracts to wide and changes direction to south-south-eastward and goes for about , where it is fed by the River Broom.

Little Loch Broom

Loch Broom Parish church at Clachan - geograph

Little Loch Broom is separated from Loch Broom by the

peninsula between wide commencing in Caileach Head. The loch is long, orientated in a south-eastward direction, similar to Loch Broom, and has a mean breadth of . Two rivers flow into Little Loch Broom; the Allt Airdeasaidh empties into the Loch at Ardessie Falls and

Dundonnell River The Dundonnell River is a river in Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. The river rises in a lochan on the slopes of Meall Dubh, before flowing north into the Dundonnell Forest. The A832 road follows its course roughly NNW, before the ...

, which rises in the

forest southeast of the loch and the innumerable small lochs and rivers that are in the forest.

Mountains

The entrance to Loch Broom is overlooked by mountain of

Ben More Coigach Ben Mor Coigach ( gd, Beinn Mhòr na Còigich) is the highest point along a ridge rising steeply from Loch Broom, in the far north-west of Scotland. It rises above the Coigach peninsula, in the county of Ross and Cromarty, 10 kilometres north-wes ...

, at , on the

Coigach Coigach () is a peninsula north of Ullapool, in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The area consists of a traditional crofting and fishing community of a couple of hundred houses located between mountain and shore on a peninsula ...

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

, which has a view of

and Loch Kanaird. The peninsula separating Loch Broom from Little Loch Broom contains the mountains of

Beinn Ghobhlach Beinn Ghiobhlach () is a mountain with a height of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the Scoraig peninsula between the two Loch Brooms in Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the ...

and Beinn nam Ban. The Marilyn, Beinn Ghobhlach at , is located at the head of the peninsula, overlooks the entrance to Loch Broom proper, to the northeast and Little Loch Broom to the south. It has a commanding view of

and

Gruinard Island Gruinard Island ( ; gd, Eilean Ghruinneard) is a small, oval-shaped Scottish island approximately long by wide, located in Gruinard Bay, about halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. At its closest point to the mainland, it is about offshore ...

to the west. Beinn nam Ban – at , also a Marilyn – is located at the base of the peninsula, overlooks

to the southwest and Loch Broom to the west and south. Lying southwest of Dundonnell, overlooking Little Loch Broom, and Gruinard Bay and Gruinard Island, to the northwest, lies the majestic ridge of

(meaning "The Anvil" or "The Forge" in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

), with 10 mountains over . These summits of An Teallach are thus Marilyns.

References

{{Authority control

Broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

Ross and Cromarty