About
About Crinan Canal
The Crinan Canal is a nine-mile-long (14 km) navigable canal in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It opened in 1801 and connects the village of Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with Crinan on the Sound of Jura, providing a navigable route between the Firth of Clyde and the Inner Hebrides, without the need for a long diversion around the Kintyre Peninsula, and in particular the exposed Mull of Kintyre. Today the canal is operated by Scottish Canals and is a popular route for leisure craft, used by nearly 2,000 boats annually.
The towpath is part of National Cycle Route 78. The canal is a two-part scheduled monument. Loch a' Bharain, which serves as a feeder reservoir for the canal, is also a scheduled monument.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 1794
- Excavation
- Not applicable
On the ground
Structures & features
56.0911° N · 5.5564° W · 9 mapped features
- Crinan Canal, section from Cairnbaan to Ardrishaigstructurecanal section in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, flows into Loch Gilp at Ardrishaig56.0605° N · 5.4699° W
- Crinan Canal, section from Crinan to Cairnbaanstructurecanal section in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, flows west into Loch Crinan at Crinan, and east into the canal section from Cairnbaan to Ardrishaig56.0760° N · 5.5410° W

- Dunardry BridgestructureSwing bridge on the Crinan Canal at Dunardry Lock No. 11, Knapdale, Argyll; built through the ancestral lands of Clan MacTavish, dividing the Dunardry estate56.0639° N · 5.5036° W

- Cairnbaan Swing Bridgestructureswing bridge in Argyll, Argyll And Bute, Scotland, UK, carries the B841 road across Crinan Canal56.0609° N · 5.4728° W
- Bellanoch Bridgestructurebridge in Argyll, Argyll And Bute, Scotland, UK, carries the B8025 road across Crinan Canal56.0736° N · 5.5297° W

- Loch a' Bharainstructurereservoir in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, feeds the Crinan Canal and outflows to Barnakill Burn56.0628° N · 5.4961° W
- Crinan Basinstructure56.0911° N · 5.5564° W

- Crinan Lighthousestructure56.0911° N · 5.5564° W

- Dunardrystructure56.0911° N · 5.5564° W

Gallery