Loch Lomond Guide. Loch Lomond selfcatering

Wherever you are, mention the words ' Loch Lomond ' and most people will have heard of it. It's a kind of magic place where landscape, beauty, history, legend and song have coalesced to create an image of Loch Lomond in the mind - even if you have never been there. Most English speaking people have heard and probably sung at least the chorus of 'The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond'; most have at least some vague idea of the story behind the song.

Surrounded by some of the most varied and beautiful scenery in the world, Loch lomond is probably within an hours drive of seventy percent of Scotland's population. It is 21 miles long and 4.1 miles at its widest point. When you sit down by the shore of Loch Lomond, you feel as if you have left the busy world of work, business, trains and moter cars behind, yet the M8 motorway is only 5 miles away. Glasgow city centre is 16 miles, Stirling 25 miles and Edinburgh about 50 miles as the crow flies.

The Creation of Loch Lomond - a guide

During the ice ages, the space now occupied by Loch Lomond was occupied by a glacier which scooped out the hollow, deep and narrow at the northern end and broad and comparatively shallow at the southern end. In even earlier times, the rift caused by the Highland Boundary fault cut across Loch Lomond and created what is now the chain of islands running west across the loch from Conic Hill.
The result of all this is a landscape which changes as you travel from south to north. The southern parts of the Loch Lomond landscape consist of large level areas with arable farming and lowland grazing for animals. The Loch between Balloch and Balmaha is fairly wide and shallow and dotted with fairly large islands.
As you travel northwards along Loch Lomond the scenery becomes progresively more rugged with steeper slopes, higher mountains and more heather and upland species of vegetation. The Loch becomes narrow and deep with the few islands close to the shores where water is less deep. At its northern extremity, Loch Lomond looks for all the world like a deep - slow flowing river and is only a few hundred yards wide before it finally comed to an end at Ardlui where a ferry can be used to cross what has become a river.
Loch Lomond is subject to fairly large fluctuations in water level so that the number of islands changes with the water level as low lying islands are either covered or revealed by the changing water levels.

Loch Lomond guide to Wildlife.

Loch Lomond Fish Species

The loch has a plentiful supply of fish; Brown trout, salmon, sea trout, perch and pike may all be found at most places in Loch Lomond although the most popular fishing has always been in the areas around the many islands at the southern end. For some, some of the more interesting conservation species are: Ruffe, powan and river Lamprey.

Wild Birds of Loch Lomond guide

As well as the 200 odd species of the more common birds, Buzzard, Golden Eagle, GeeseOsprey, Ptarmigan, Perigrine Falcon and Capercailzie have all been seen around the shores and slopes of the loch. Various Raptors have taken residence on the western shores to take advantage of the many small casualties of the fast traffic on the main road north. Ptarmigan may be found on the higher slopes and Pied Fly-catcher have been heard and occasionaly seen in Glen Falloch.

Wild animals of Loch Lomond

The wild species which probably causes most surprise, and sometimes consternation around Loch Lomond is the 'red necked wallaby'. A colony of these lives on one of the larger islands but occasionally some of these escape - sometimes over the ice - to cause consternation amond visitors travelling by car.
You can of course expect to see many of the more common residents such as Deer, squirrel, fox (occasionally) and the occasional otter playing near the ourflow of some of the burns. Wild goats will sometimes appear a little way up the slopes.