Rannoch Moor
Rannoch Moor is one of the most remote and elemental landscapes in Britain: an enormous expanse of blanket bog, lochan and rock stretching across some 150 square kilometres of the Scottish Highlands between the Black Mount to the south and Loch Rannoch to the east. No road crosses its centre. The few paths that exist require careful navigation and decent footwear, and the combination of scale, exposure and the simple absence of human infrastructure gives the moor a character of genuine wildness that is increasingly rare in these islands. The moor occupies a high plateau between 300 and 400 metres above sea level that was extensively glaciated during the last Ice Age. The ice stripped the bedrock almost bare in places, depositing boulder fields and moraines across the landscape while excavating the numerous small lochs and lochans that dot the surface. After the ice retreated the poor drainage and high rainfall of the area allowed peat to accumulate to depths of several metres across vast areas, creating the blanket bog habitat that now characterises most of the moor. In places the peat has been carved by erosion into hags and channels that make cross-country travel demanding. The West Highland Line crosses the southern edge of the moor between Rannoch Station and Bridge of Orchy, providing one of the most extraordinary railway journeys in Britain. The line was constructed across the moor in the 1890s using methods that included floating sections of track on a raft of brushwood and rubble across the deepest peat. The train journey across Rannoch Moor, with the vast open bogland stretching to the horizon and the mountains of Glen Coe visible to the southwest, is an experience that puts the passenger briefly in touch with the vast indifference of this wild and ancient landscape. Despite its apparent emptiness, Rannoch Moor supports significant wildlife. Red deer roam the moor in considerable numbers and are frequently seen from the railway or the road. Golden plovers nest on the higher ground, short-eared owls quarter the moor for voles, and red-throated divers breed on the lochans in summer. The rare floating plants of the deep bog pools, including sundews and bog asphodel, reward those who take the time to look closely at the low vegetation.