Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin

Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin is a sea loch on Scotland’s north-west coast in Assynt, part of Eddrachillis Bay. Its Gaelic name means ‘loch of the white cairn’, recalling a long-vanished burial mound on its shore. The loch stretches inland for several kilometres, its dark water framed by steep, heather-covered hills. At its narrowest point the water is only 130 metres wide, yet it once carried a busy ferry between Kylesku and Kylestrome. The ferry ended in 1984 when the Kylesku Bridge opened, a 276-metre span that now carries traffic across the loch. The loch gained military importance in the Second World War when it became home to the 12th Submarine Flotilla. Nine crew members and six prisoners were lost during a daring attack on German ships, including the Tirpitz, in a Norwegian fjord. The flotilla used X-class midget submarines launched from depot ships moored in the loch. Concrete slipways and wartime buildings still mark parts of the shore where these operations were organised. Visitors today find a quiet Highland landscape of birch woods and rocky outcrops beside the water. The Kylesku Bridge offers a dramatic viewpoint over the loch and surrounding peaks. A small lay-by on the north shore provides a place to stop and watch seals surface in the calm water. The single-track road that follows the lochside passes scattered crofts and old stone walls. On clear evenings the reflections of the hills shimmer in the dark surface of the loch.