Not to be confused with Loch Garry, Perthshire

River Garry, Perthshire

The River Garry is a major tributary of the River Tummel, itself a tributary of the River Tay, in the traditional county of Perthshire in the Scottish Highlands...

Loch Garry, (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Garraidh), is 25 km north of 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...

, Lochaber

Lochaber

District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...

, 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...

, and is 11 km long and 50 m deep. It is fed by waters from Loch Quoich

Loch Quoich

Loch Quoich is a loch and reservoir situated west of Loch Garry approximately 40k m northwest of Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland...

 10 km upstream on the River Garry, and drains into Loch Oich

Loch Oich

Loch Oich is a freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland which forms part of the Caledonian Canal, of which it is the highest point. This narrow loch lies between Loch Ness and Loch Lochy in the Great Glen...

 in the Great Glen

Great Glen

The Great Glen , also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More is a series of glens in Scotland running 100 kilometres from Inverness on the Moray Firth, to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe.The Great Glen follows a large geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault...

 just 5 km downstream. Loch Garry is much photographed from the A87 for its romantic setting and also because a quirk of perspective makes it appear like a map of Scotland.

Both lochs have been dammed for hydro-electric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

, the dam on Loch Quoich being the largest rockfill dam in Scotland at 320 m long and 38 m high. Water is fed by tunnel to the two power stations each producing 20MW, and the scheme was completed in 1962.

The Glen used to be home of the Clan MacDonnell of Glengarry

Clan MacDonnell of Glengarry

Clan MacDonell of Glengarry is a branch of Clan Donald taking its name from Glen Garry where the river Garry runs eastwards through Loch Garry to join the Great Glen about 16 miles north of Fort William...

, but since the Highland Clearances

Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...

 the population has been reduced to a handful of estates. The main activities are deerstalking and forestry, with little tourism apart from munro-baggers seeking some spectacularly remote mountains at the head of the glen. The lonely road along the north side of Loch Garry continues past Loch Quoich to Kinlochhourn from where a footpath continues to Knoydart.