Loch Ailort ( ;

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 ...

: Loch Ailleart) is a sea

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 ...

Morar Morar (; gd, Mòrar) is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the northern part of the peninsula containing the village, though North Morar is more usual (the region to the south we ...

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

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 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 ...

. Loch Ailort is a shallow V shaped loch, with the small Ardnish Peninsula on the north side, and the large southwest facing Moidart Peninsula to the south.
Ailort, Loch Loch Ailort is bounded in the northeast by the settlement of the same name,

Lochailort Lochailort ( , gd, Ceann Loch Ailleart) is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles ( A830) between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 towards Salen and Strontian. ...

and in the west, opening out into the

Sound of Arisaig The Sound of Arisaig Lochaber, Scotland, separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. At the eastern, landward end, the sound is divided by Ardnish into two sea lochs. Loch nan Uamh lies to the north of Ardn ...

. To the north of the loch lies

Loch nan Uamh The Sound of Arisaig Lochaber, Scotland, separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. At the eastern, landward end, the sound is divided by Ardnish into two sea lochs. Loch nan Uamh lies to the north of Ard ...

Geography

The northern coastline is overlooked by the hill Cruach an Aonaich, that is situated at the centre of the V shape of the loch, and the ridge of An t Aonach which follows the coastline northeast to the edge of the loch, where the ridge flattens out to sea level. The southern coastline is dominated by the fine cone shaped former volcano of

An Stac An Stac is the name of a 814 m mountain in the Northwest Highlands, Scotland, on the shore of Loch Ailort on the west coast of Lochaber. A steep-sided conical peak, the mountain is usually climbed in conjunction with its higher neighbour Rois-b ...

, which is a

Corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

and overlooks Lochailort to the north. Further behind An Stac to south, and overlooking the great expanse of the sea loch, is the west facing ridge that is made up of the Sgurr na Ba Glaise in the east followed by

Rois-bheinn Rois-bheinn is the joint highest hill in the Scottish region of Moidart, a title it shares with its neighbour Beinn Odhar Bheag. The mountain may be climbed by its west ridge from the small village of Roshven (a settlement that takes its name f ...

and Cruach Doir'an Raoigh, which are also, all Corbetts.

Islands

Loch Ailort has a number of islands. At the entrance to the loch is two islands. Eilean nan Gobhar, or Eilean na Gour at the south of the loch mouth, and the other is Eilean á Chaolis. Eilean nan Gobhar, is famous for two

vitrified fort Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northe ...

s.
Eilean Nan Gobhar Further to the west lies the island of Eilean Buidhe, which lies at the centre of the channel and marks the point the sea loch turns northeast, for the upswing of the V shape. Further northeast, and visible from the village of

is the small mid channel island grouping of Eilean Dubh.

Settlements

Loch Ailort is remote and its coastline is only sparsely populated. At the head of the loch lies the hamlet of

. To the north, the Ardnish peninsula is mostly empty, apart from the occasional farmhouse or hunting lodge. The southern coastline contains Alisary in the east and

Roshven Roshven ( gd, Roisbheinn) is a township located on the eastern shoreline of Loch Ailort, in Lochaber, in the council area of Highland, Scotland. Towering above it is Rois-bheinn, the highest hill in the area. History Historically, the hamlet w ...

in the west. Further west, lying outside the mouth of the sea loch, lies the hamlet of

Glenuig Glenuig ( , gd, Gleann Ùige) is a small village in Moidart, Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around west of Fort William and from Ardnamurchan Point. Geography Glenuig is a tiny community of just over thirty folk l ...

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(2011
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailort Lochs of Highland (council area) Sea lochs of Scotland