Loch Creran is a

sea loch ''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 sp ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, 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 ...

. It is about long from its head at Invercreran to its mouth on the Lynn of Lorne, part of

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic ...

. The loch separates the areas of

Benderloch Benderloch ( gd, Meadarloch, ) is a village in Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieu ...

to the south and

Appin Appin ( gd, An Apainn) is a coastal district of the Scottish West Highlands bounded to the west by Loch Linnhe, to the south by Loch Creran, to the east by the districts of Benderloch and Lorne, and to the north by Loch Leven. It lies northeast ...

to the north. The island of

Eriska Eriska is a flat tidal island at the entrance to Loch Creran on the west coast of Scotland. Privately owned by the Buchanan-Smiths from 1973 until August 2016, Eriska is now owned by Creation Gem, a family-owned business from Hong Kong.

lies at the mouth of the loch. The loch is bridged at its narrowest point at Creagan, by the

A828 road List of A roads in zone 8 in Great Britain starting north of the A8 and west of the A9 (roads beginning with 8). Single- and double-digit roads Triple-digit roads Four-digit roads See also * B roads in Zone 8 of the Great Britain number ...

. The village of Barcaldine lies on the south shore of the loch. The loch narrows and becomes shallower at both Eriska and Creagan, meaning that tidal currents are accelerated through these points. This provides aeration and nutrition to the beds of

flame shell ''Limaria hians'', the flame shell, is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae. This species is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Biology The flame shell resembles a scallop with a bright o ...

and horse mussel that are a feature of the loch. Between these shallow zones lie deeper basins in which the water is more still, proving a habitat for

Norway lobster ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is n ...

and seapen. In 2014 the entire loch (an area of ) was declared a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area, to protect its flame shell beds and quaternary geological features. Within the MPA the use of fishing gear that may damage the seabed is prohibited, although rod and line fishing and creeling is permitted. The MPA is designated a Category IV

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, and is also protected as 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 a ...

. At the head of Loch Creran lies the

Glasdrum Wood Glasdrum Wood ( gd, Coille a’ Ghlasdroma) is national nature reserve (NNR) at the head of Loch Creran in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland. Managed by NatureScot, the wood is renowned for its diverse flora and fauna, including sess ...

national nature reserve, an internationally important atlantic oakwood managed by Scottish Natural Heritage, classified as both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This predominantly ash and oak woodland is home to butterflies like the rare chequered skipper, as well as being frequented by

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 weas ...

References

Sea lochs of Scotland Lochs of Argyll and Bute Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas of Scotland {{Argyll-geo-stub