River Carron (, ) is a west coast

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

, in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The river rises in Ledgowan Forest. It gathers its head-streams through Carron Bog, then enters Loch Scaven and flows out from there, passing

Loch Dùghaill Loch Dùghaill (also anglicised as Loch Doule or Loch Doughaill) is a freshwater tidal loch on the River Carron, Wester Ross, River Carron in Wester Ross, Scotland. The A890 road and the Kyle of Lochalsh Line a branch of the Highland railway both ...

and eventually reaching

Loch Carron Loch Carron (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Carrann") is a sea loch on the west coast of Ross and Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands, which separates the Lochalsh peninsula from the Applecross peninsula, and from the Stromeferry headland east of Loch ...

. From Achnashellach the river meanders southwest through the broad

strath A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a glen, which is typically narrower and deep). Word and etymology An anglicisation of the Gaelic word , it is one of many that have been absorbed i ...

of Glen Carron and expands at one part into Loch Doule (or Doughaill). About further southwest, it enters the Inner Sound at the head of

near Strathcarron. The A890 and a branch of the Highland

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, which extends to

Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh ( , "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross & Cromarty on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is located on the Lochalsh peninsula, at the entranc ...

, runs along part of the river's southeast shore. Stocking of juvenile

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

into the River Carron has brought this

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

back from the brink of local

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. Having made a dramatic recovery, the salmon has contributed to an improvement in the biodiversity of the whole area with

kingfishers Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

now established locally, as well as increased numbers of

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

s visiting.

References

Carron River Carron {{Scotland-river-stub

See also

References