Glen Strathfarrar

View along the glen across Loch Beannacharan, with Sgurr na Lapaich beyond

Glen Strathfarrar (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Farair) is a glen in the Highland region of Scotland, near Loch Ness.

Geography

The River Farrar runs through the glen.

The Glen is part of the Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme, with a dam at Loch Monar and a 9 km tunnel carrying water to an underground power station at Deanie, and a second dam just below Loch Beannacharan and a tunnel to Culligran power station (also underground).

There are a number of mountains on either side of the glen, many of which are popular with walkers. These include the Munros of Sgùrr a' Choire Ghlais, Sgurr Fhuar-thuill, Càrn nan Gobhar and Sgurr na Ruaidhe to the north, as well as Sgurr na Lapaich, another Càrn nan Gobhar, An Riabhachan and An Socach to the south. There are also two Corbetts - Beinn a' Bha'ach Ard and Sgorr na Dìollaid.

River Farrar

River Farrar at Struy

Main article: River Farrar

The Farrar is formed as the waters of the Garbh-uisge and Uisge Misgeach merge. The river then adopts a sinuous course along the flat floor of the glen, running eastwards through two lochs, Loch a' Mhuillidh and Loch Beannacharan, then continuing east to merge with the waters of the River Glass to form the River Beauly below Struy Bridge.

Access

Locked gate

The road along the glen is private, and a locked gate system operates whereby permission for motor vehicle access must be requested at the gatehouse. A quota of cars are allowed in the glen each day. Access times vary, according to the month, between 9am and 8pm. In the winter the only means of access is to contact the Mountaineering Council of Scotland who will give a security code for the gate. The resulting relative lack of cars through the glen contributes to the remote and utter peace and calm, especially of the upper reaches of the glen toward Loch Monar.

There is no restriction on access along the glen by foot, bicycle or other non-motorised transport.

Etymology

The name of the glen is a curious 'Gaelicisation' of the Gaelic. As a strath is an elongated glen, a title of 'Glen Strath' is tautological and so a nonsense. It is likely though that an English-only speaker, ignorant of the meaning of 'Strath' when transcribing the map of the location, recorded that this was the 'Glen of Strathfarrar'.