Loch Dochfour

Loch Dochfour is a freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands southwest of Inverness, part of the Great Glen. The southern end flows in through the Bona narrows from Loch Ness. The northern end flows out through the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal towards the Beauly and Moray Firths to the North Sea. As part of the construction of the Caledonian Canal supervised by Thomas Telford, the Ness Weir was constructed across the natural outflow just south of Dochgarroch. This raised the level of Loch Dochfour by almost two metres (6 ft 7 in), and the level of Loch Ness by 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), making them equal in level. Before construction of the Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness ended at Lochend, flowing into the River Ness. This means that Loch Dochfour can be seen as that part of the River Ness upstream from the weir, or as an extension of Loch Ness northwards to the weir, or as part of the Caledonian Canal, or as a loch in itself. The Bathymetrical survey of the Scottish fresh-water lochs considered Loch Dochfour to be distinct from Loch Ness proper, but capable of being regarded as forming part of Loch Ness. The A82 road runs adjacent to and in part on an embankment over Loch Dochfour.