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Knockan Crag
Knockan Crag is found 13 miles north
of Ullapool on the A835 road to Lochinver. There is ample parking, a
nice picnic area and toilet facilities. The walks are easy to
strenuous - if taking small children then I would have them close at
hand on most of the route.
Knockan Crag is included in Scotland's
first Geopark and can give you a couple of very happy hours. It's most
interesting feature is that forces within the earth caused older
rock to slide up and over younger rock (thrusts) - so the older rock
is on the top! It is now recognised as the place where scientist
first discovered the basic principle of geology.
There are a couple of trails, the
longest is the one hour crag top trail with fantastic views of
Assynt & Coigach. You will find yourself being educated while on the
walk with unusual 'natural' works of art and facts written on rock.
There is a good display of interactive and other education things
under cover but not indoors (take your midge repellent (Avon Skin
so Soft) or you won't stay around for long enough to be
educated! ). It is a good idea to follow the track around from
the display section (looks like a grass topped flying saucer from
the road) and on from there so you can benefit from the
'educational' aspect of the walk. |
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The sphere is
made by Joe Smith and is symbolic of the global context of the
Knockan story reminding you of Scotland's journey over 600 millions
years ago from the South Pole to its present position. (this will be
further explained in the interactive display at the bottom of the
hill). There are other intriguing works of natural art. You will
not only see the results of but also also find mention of the Moine Thrust
as you trundle uphill.
The Moine Thrust:
An extensive geological
discontinuity of the NW Highlands, the Moine Thrust is the
easternmost and oldest of a series of low-angle faults which
comprise a thrust zone, up to 6 miles (10 km) in width, within which
older sheets of rock (or nappes) are piled up over younger
sequences. The thrust trends south southwest for 120 miles (192 km)
from Loch Eriboll in the north, past Glencoul, Knockan Crag,
Ullapool, Kinlochewe, Kishorn, Lochalsh to the Sleat peninsula of
Skye.
Formed during the Caledonian mountain building episode between 430
and 500 million years ago, the structure generally involves
Pre-Cambrian schists and and gneisses being pushed above a sequence
of limestones, quartzites and shales of Cambrian and Ordovician age
but has been much complicated by later deformation. The thrust zone
defines the western margin of the Caledonian mountain belt in
Europe. Thanks to GIS WWW
Resource List Uni Edin
Web of
Knockan Crag
Have you seen the
Scottish Natural
Heritage web site
Web site of the
North West Highlands Geopark |
