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Scotland’s Waterways
Although Scotand has many rivers and lochs, there are only four  canals, the Caledonian Canal being by far the best-known.

The Caledonian Canal - This magnificent canal runs through the Western Highlands  to connect Inverness to Fort William, and was originally constructed to enable sea-going ships to avoid the long and usually rough passage around the northern tip of Scotland.  These days it’s mainly used by pleasure craft, and the 60 mile route, with 27 locks comprises 20 miles of canal proper, plus 40 miles of lochs, including Loch Oich, Loch Lochy, Loch Linhe and the world-famous Loch Ness.

The Crinan Canal – This is a very attractive short (under 10 miles) canal, with 15 locks, which takes commercial sea-going vessels from the beautiful village of Crinan to Ardrishaig, thereby avoiding the passage around the Mull of Kintyre – It’s certainly not suitable for narrow-boats, but it is used by experienced amateur sailors with sea-going cruisers.

The Forth & Clyde Canal – Re-opened in 2001, this is a 35 mile long canal, with 39 locks, connecting Bowling Harbour to Grangemouth via the 400m long Kelvin Aqueduct and a very long and attractive reach across the summit.

The Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal -  Still under restoration,  this 32 mile canal, with no locks, connects Edinburgh to Falkirk across the Scottish Lowlands

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