| Loch More | |
| Coords: | 58.2908°N -4.8589°W |
| Type: | loch |
| Outflow: | An Earachd |
| Catchment: | 12mi2 |
| Basin Countries: | Scotland |
| Length: | 4miles |
| Width: | 0.35miles |
| Area: | 940acres |
| Depth: | 127feet |
| Max-Depth: | 316feet |
| Volume: | 5000000000spell=inNaNspell=in |
| Elevation: | 127feet |
| Pushpin Map: | Scotland Sutherland |
Loch More (great Loch in Gaelic) is a 4miles long freshwater loch in Sutherland, Scotland, about 10miles east of Scourie.[1] It is part of a series of inter-connecting lochs and rivers that empty into Loch Laxford, which is a sea loch, the "ford" in the name meaning a firth not a ford[2] This drainage area, named the Laxford basin,[3] lies in the southern part of the civil parish of Eddrachillis (community council Scourie).[1]
The loch has a north-west to south-east orientation and is about 127feet above sea level. At the south-east end, it is close to the watershed between the west and east coast of Scotland, being about 2 miles from Loch Merkland which drains into the Loch Shin basin and thence into the Moray Firth. At the north-west end, there is a connecting loch, named Loch nan Ealachan (Loch of the Swans) or (prior to c.1910) Loch na h-Ealaidh (Swan Loch).[4] [5] The width of Loch More is remarkably uniform, just under half a mile. Its surface area is 940acres and its catchment area is about 12mi2, just over a quarter of the Laxford basin drainage area, which is about 44sqmi.[3]
The average depth is about 126feet reaching a maximum of about 316feet in the centre and the volume of water has been estimated at 5000000000spell=inNaNspell=in.[3]
Loch nan Ealachan is a shallow basin up to 8feet deep joined to the main loch by a strait about 1feet deep, called Ùidh Dhubh (black ford[5]). This is traversed by a path with stepping stones. The volume of water has been estimated at 13000000spell=inNaNspell=in.[3]
The outflow from Loch More (together with Loch nan Ealachan) is carried by the small river An Earachd, from the north end of Loch nan Ealachan into Loch Stack, which is about 1miles north of Loch More. Ben Stack (2364feet), which rises steeply from the south side of Loch Stack, extends with a lesser incline as far as the hamlet of Achfary (154feet), by the shore of Loch nan Ealachan.[4] The outflow from Loch Stack is the River Laxford, which reaches the sea at Loch Laxford.
There is no village adjacent to the loch apart from the hamlet of Achfary, alongside Loch nan Ealachan.[4]