Loch Morlich ( Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Mhùrlaig'') is a freshwater

loch ''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 ...

in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of

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 ...

, Scotland near Aviemore. The loch is home to a watersports centre with

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, sailing and windsurfing among the activities available. There is also a yacht club and cycling routes around the loch. The loch is at the foot of the

Cairngorm mountains The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 ...

, just a few miles from Aviemore. As seen on Game of Thrones Season 5. Long stretches of its shoreline are formed of sandy beaches. In 2009 these beaches received a Seaside Award by the Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) campaign, the first time that this had been given to a fresh water loch. At 300 metres above sea level it also became the highest beach to be given this award. When examined closely the sand of these beaches contains large amounts of broken glass. However, this glass does not come from careless tourists discarding bottles irresponsibly, but is in fact left over from the Second World War when the area around Loch Morlich was used as a commando school. In particular it was used as a training area for the Kompani Linge (the Norwegian Independent (army) Company, trained by the British Special Operations Executive) because of the close resemblance of the area, both in landscape and climate, to Norway. A memorial to the Kompani Linge can be found outside the

Glenmore Forest Park Glenmore Forest Park is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest near Aviemore in the Badenoch and Strathspey district of Highland, Scotland. Owned and managed by Forestry and Land Scotland, it lies within the Cairngorms National Park, and is one of s ...

visitor centre.

References

External links

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Loch Morlich beach - Forestry Commission ScotlandKeep Scotland Beautiful - AwardsLoch Morlich Watersports
Morlich Morlich Sports venues in Highland (council area) Morlich Morlich Beaches of Scotland Landforms of Highland (council area) {{Highland-geo-stub