Loch Treig

Loch Treig
Loch Treig is located in Highland
Loch Treig
Loch Treig
LocationNN3473
Coordinates56°48′50″N 4°43′37″W / 56.81399°N 4.72704°W / 56.81399; -4.72704
Typefreshwater loch, natural, reservoir
Basin countriesUnited Kingdom
Max. length8.43 km (5.24 mi)
Max. width0.63 km (0.39 mi)
Surface area743 ha (1,840 acres)[1]
Average depth207.34 ft (63.20 m)[1]
Max. depth436 ft (133 m)[1]
Water volume16,378,332,894.3 cu ft (463,782,740.00 m3)[1]
Shore length122 km (14 mi) [1]
Surface elevation251 m (823 ft)[1]
Max. temperature50.4 °F (10.2 °C)
Min. temperature50.3 °F (10.2 °C)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Loch Treig is a deep freshwater loch situated in a steep-sided glen 20km east of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.[1] While there are no roads alongside the loch, the West Highland Line follows its eastern bank.

Loch Treig was originally a natural freshwater loch over 400 feet deep.[1] In 1929, Loch Treig was made into a reservoir, retained behind the Treig Dam, forming part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme, which required diversion of the West Highland Railway.[2] The increase in water level following the construction of the dam submerged the hamlets of Kinlochtreig and Creaguaineach at the loch's southern end, which were stopping points on a cattle drovers' road along the Road to the Isles, which linked up Lochaber and the Inner Hebrides to markets in Perthshire in the south.

Ken Smith (b. 1947), a self-described hermit, has lived alone in a rough cabin on the shore of Loch Treig for forty years.[3] He was profiled in the documentary The Hermit of Treig (2022), and wrote the memoir The Way of the Hermit (2023).[3][4] Laura Miller opined in 2024, he "may be the most famous living hermit in Great Britain".[5]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Loch Treig". Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER). Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Loch Treig, Dam". Canmore. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b Kelly, Stuart (14 June 2023). "Book review: The Way Of The Hermit, by Ken Smith with Will Millard". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ Ide, Wendy (27 March 2022). "The Hermit of Treig – splendid isolation in the wilds of Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  5. ^ Miller, Laura (1 June 2024). "Alone and Unafraid". Slate. Retrieved 1 June 2024.