Caledonian Canal
The canal, which links the lochs of the Great Glen—Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, and Loch Ness—owes its origins to a combination of military and political pressures that emerged at the time of the Napoleonic Wars with France. In short: Britain needed a better and faster way to move naval vessels from one side of Scotland to the other. The great Scottish engineer Thomas Telford (1757–1834) surveyed the route in 1803, taking advantage of the three lochs that lie in the Great Glen and have a combined length of 45 miles, so that only 22 miles of canal had to be constructed to connect the lochs and complete the waterway from coast to coast. After 19 years, the canal, with its 29 locks and 42 gates, was open and ready for action. Travel along the canal today and stunning vistas open up: mountains, lochs, and glens, and to the south, the profile of Ben Nevis. At the visitor center in Fort Augustus, you can learn all about this historic engineering feat and take a picturesque walk along the towpath.
