Loch Morie

Loch Morie lies in the Highland hills about 11.5 kilometres northwest of Alness. A long mountain loch, it fills a hollow between steep slopes covered in heather and birch. The River Averon starts at its eastern end and flows through the town to reach Cromarty Firth. The name comes from the Gaelic word mòr, meaning ‘big’, so the loch is simply the Big Loch. A small stony island sits where the river begins, once thought to be the remains of a crannog. The loch was chosen for a 1902 bathymetrical survey led by Sir John Murray, known as the father of modern oceanography. His team mapped the depths and found a mixed bed of psammite and pelite beneath the water. Later surveys in 1931 and 1989 suggested the island might be an old crannog, but a 2023 study by the North of Scotland Archaeological Survey found no signs of human building. The loch therefore remains a natural feature. Visitors reach the shore along rough tracks that skirt the water’s edge. Anglers come for brown trout, ferox trout, salmon and Arctic char that live in the loch. The surrounding hills rise steeply, giving wide views across the water and the moorland beyond. At the eastern end the River Averon begins its short journey to the Cromarty Firth, adding to the sense of quiet water framed by high ground.