Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond lies where the Lowlands meet the Highlands, a long freshwater loch split between Stirling, Argyll and Bute, and West Dunbartonshire. It stretches thirty-six kilometres from end to end and holds more water than any other lake in Great Britain except Loch Ness. The northern basin plunges to one hundred and ninety metres deep, while the southern shallows rarely reach thirty metres. Ben Lomond rises on the eastern shore, the most southerly of the Scottish Munros at nine hundred and seventy-four metres. The loch formed when glaciers carved a deep trough during the last ice age, a period known locally as the Loch Lomond Readvance. Its islands follow the line of the Highland Boundary Fault, which separates ancient Highland rocks from younger Lowland sandstones. Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, sits near the fault line. Crannogs built thousands of years ago still dot the shallows, once used as homes and later as meeting places by clans such as the Buchanans. Visitors find a landscape of islands and hills, with Ben Lomond’s slopes rising above the eastern shore. The loch’s clear waters reflect green fields to the south and mountains to the north. Paths run along the southern shore past Luss, where Neolithic people once lived, and through the national park established in 2002. The water divides into layers in summer, supporting fish and birds while drawing travellers since the 18th century.