Caol is a village near Fort William

Fort William, Scotland

Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...

, in the Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

 council area of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is about 2.5 km north of Fort William town centre, on the shore of Loch Linnhe

Loch Linnhe

Loch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland....

, and within the parish of Kilmallie

Kilmallie

Kilmallie is the name of a civil parish in and around the settlement of Caol, Fort William, Scotland. It gives its name to the local shinty club, Kilmallie Shinty Club....

.

The name "Caol" is from the Gaelic for "narrow", in this case the narrow water between Loch Linnhe

Loch Linnhe

Loch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland....

 and Loch Eil

Loch Eil

Loch Eil is a sea loch in Lochaber, Scotland that opens into Loch Linnhe near the town of Fort William.Loch Eil Outward Bound railway station and Locheilside railway station are both situated on the northern shore of the loch....

.

The Caledonian Canal

Caledonian Canal

The Caledonian Canal is a canal in Scotland that connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by...

 passes by to the north-west of Caol, while the Great Glen Way

Great Glen Way

The Great Glen Way is a long distance footpath in Scotland. It follows the Great Glen, running from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east, covering 73 miles . It was opened in 2002 and is one of Scotland's four long distance routes. The Great Glen Way is generally walked from west to...

 long distance footpath passes through the village before following the canal towpath.

The village is largely residential, and has a school, Caol Primary School.

The local shinty team are Kilmallie Shinty Club

Kilmallie Shinty Club

Kilmallie Shinty Club is a shinty team from Caol, Fort William, Scotland. The club's first team will play in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division in 2011 after a four year absence since relegation in 2007 and the second team plays in North Division 2. The team are also renowned for a strong youth...

, who play at Canal Park in the west of Caol.