Loch Tarff is a small 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 ...

approximately from the southeastern shore of

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 ...

in the

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 ...

Geography and geology

The loch is located in the hills that rise steeply from the eastern shore of Loch Ness and has an elevation of ASL. It has a surface area of approximately 500,000 square metres with a prominent inlet to the northwest and a smaller inlet to the southwest. The loch is fed by a number of small streams, most of which enter its northeastern shore from the southern slopes of Beinn a' Bhacaidh. There are a number of

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

s in the loch, the largest of which, Eilean Ban, lies near its northeastern shore. Geological evidence indicates that the loch was formed in the last

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

approximately 10,000 years ago, and is the result of

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

that scoured the landscape. The surrounding rock is

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

, mostly

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

s, although there are also

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

conglomerates formed from the metamorphic and

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

strata in the

fault scarp A fault scarp is a small step or offset on the ground surface where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other. It is the topographic expression of faulting attributed to the displacement of the land surface by movement al ...

that comprises the

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

. Glacial sediments can be found to the south of the loch around the southern shore of Loch Ness.

Access

By car, the loch is approximately from

Fort Augustus Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism. History The Gaeli ...

, and is accessible by the B862 road, which runs along the eastern shore of the loch. For walkers, the loch is located on the South Loch Ness Trail, approximately one and a half to two hours via an ascending route that rises with two moderate inclines from the southern shore of Loch Ness at Fort Augustus.

Appearances in media

Footage of the loch was used in the 1983 film '' Local Hero'' (in the scene immediately following the rabbit and the fog; the lead character's car, a

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

is stopped on the road). The scene is taken from the B862 looking westward and some of the loch's islets can be seen in the background.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarff, Loch Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lochs of Highland (council area)