The Slochd Summit is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 on the A9 road and the Highland Main Line

Highland Main Line

The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edinburgh, Glasgow and London use the line...

 Railway in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 between Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

 and Aviemore

Aviemore

Aviemore is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm...

. An old military road

Old military roads of Scotland

A network of military roads was constructed in the Scottish Highlands during the middle part of the 18th century as part of an attempt by the British Government to bring order to a part of the country which had risen up in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715....

 also goes through the pass. National Cycle Network route 7 also goes over the summit, largely following the old A9.

Both the road and the railway have signs marking the spot - the A9 is at a height of 1328 feet (404.8 m), while the railway reaches 1315 feet (400.8 m). The Slochd Summit is the second highest place on the route from Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

 to Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

 - the Pass of Drumochter

Pass of Drumochter

The Pass of Drumochter is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 road passes through here, as does the Highland Main Line, the railway between Inverness and the south of Scotland...

at 1500 feet (457.2 m) is higher and bleaker.

Slochd sounds like "loch" with a k at the end, "lochk". The "d" at the end is pronounced as a "k".

The Gaelic name is Sloc nam Meirleach, the thieves pit or den. It had a reputation as a dangerous place for travellers.