Loch Treig

Loch Treig is a deep freshwater loch situated in a steep-sided glen 20km east of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.^[1] While there are no roads alongside the loch, the West Highland Line follows its eastern bank.

Loch Treig
with Glen Spean
Loch Treig
Location	NN3473
Coordinates	56.81399°N 4.72704°W / 56.81399; -4.72704
Type	freshwater loch, natural, reservoir
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Max. length	8.43 km (5.24 mi)
Max. width	0.63 km (0.39 mi)
Surface area	743 ha (1,840 acres)[1]
Average depth	207.34 ft (63.20 m)[1]
Max. depth	436 ft (133 m)[1]
Water volume	16,378,332,894.3 cu ft (463,782,740.00 m3)[1]
Shore length1	22 km (14 mi) [1]
Surface elevation	251 m (823 ft)[1]
Max. temperature	50.4 °F (10.2 °C)
Min. temperature	50.3 °F (10.2 °C)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Loch Treig was originally a natural freshwater loch over 400 feet deep.^[1] In 1929, Loch Treig was made into a reservoir, retained behind the Treig Dam, forming part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme, which required diversion of the West Highland Railway.^[2] The increase in water level following the construction of the dam submerged the hamlets of Kinlochtreig and Creaguaineach at the loch's southern end, which were stopping points on a cattle drovers' road along the Road to the Isles, which linked up Lochaber and the Inner Hebrides to markets in Perthshire in the south.

Ken Smith (b. 1947), a self-described hermit, has lived alone in a rough cabin on the shore of Loch Treig for forty years.^[3] He was profiled in the documentary The Hermit of Treig (2022), and wrote the memoir The Way of the Hermit (2023).^[3][4] Laura Miller opined in 2024, he "may be the most famous living hermit in Great Britain".^[5]

See also

• List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom