Loch Achilty
Loch Achilty
Loch Achilty
Coordinates	57°34′22″N 4°37′18″W / 57.572700°N 4.621700°W / 57.572700; -4.621700
Type	freshwater loch
Max. length	4,500 ft (1,400 m)
Max. width	1,350 ft (410 m)
Surface area	57.1 ha (141 acres)[1]
Average depth	51.75 ft (15.77 m)
Max. depth	119 ft (36 m)
Water volume	332,000,000 cubic feet (9,400,000 m3)[2]
Shore length1	4.7 km (2.9 mi)
Surface elevation	37 m (121 ft)
Islands	Three islands.
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Loch Achilty is a large picturesque lowland freshwater loch set within a sloping birch and oakwood forest, and located near to Contin in Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands, Scotland.^[3][2] Loch Achilty is notable for having no outflow. It has been assumed that it is discharging its surplus water via tunnel into the River Rosay (now known as the Black Water^[4]) that eventually flows into the larger River Conon.^[5]

Geography

Loch Achilty is a small but deep loch in Torrachilty wood, three miles west of Strathpeffer, and contains char. In outline it is somewhat elliptical, with the long axis trending north-east and south-west. The floor of Loch Achilty is irregular. The 10-foot (3 m) contour follows approximately the outline of the loch, in many places approaching very close to the shore, but the deeper contours are all sinuous in character, and there are two small basins exceeding 100 feet (30 m) in depth, the larger and deeper towards the western shore, and the smaller, based on a sounding of 112 feet (34 m), near the centre of the loch.^[2]

References