THE GREAT GLEN WAY

The Great Glen, a massive depression following a geological fault line, effectively cuts Scotland in two. At its heart lies Loch Ness, Scotland's largest inland loch and from Fort William and Ben Nevis (at 1344 metres, the highest mountain in the British isles) in the south, to Inverness, capital city of the Highlands in the north, it contains some of the most dramatic scenery in Britain. The Caledonian Canal, designed and built by Thomas Telford between 1803 and 1822, initially to provide a route for the Royal Navy between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, makes use of the three inland lochs - Ness, Oich and Lochy.

Before man inhabited the Great Glen, it's slopes and surrounding hills were covered in natural forest natural forest. Oak, birch, ash, wild cherry, rowan, alder and hazel flourished in the more fertile valley bottoms and the lower south-facing slopes. On the higher ground and north-facing slopes, Scots pine, birch and juniper would have predominated.