Great Glen

Great Glen Project Station M. This triangulation pillar was one of around sixteen built for a special survey of the Great Glen in the 1970s. The Great Glen (Scottish Gaelic: An Gleann Mòr [an ˈklaun̪ˠ ˈmoːɾ]), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic Gleann Albainn "Glen of Scotland" [ˈklaun̪ˠ ˈaɫ̪apən]) or Glen More (from the Gaelic Gleann Mòr "Big/Great Glen"), is a glen in Scotland running for 62 miles (100 km) from Inverness on the edge of the Moray Firth, in an approximately straight line to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe. It follows a geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault, and bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest.

The Great Glen Fault The glen is a natural travelling route in the Highlands of Scotland, which is used by both the Caledonian Canal and the A82 road, which link the city of Inverness on the northeast coast with Fort William on the west coast. The Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway was built in 1896 from the southern end of the glen to the southern end of Loch Ness, but was never extended to Inverness. The railway closed in 1947. In 2002, the Great Glen Way was opened. A long-distance route for cyclists, canoeists, and walkers, it consists of a series of footpaths, forestry tracks, canal paths and occasional stretches of road linking Fort William to Inverness.