Crianlarich (; ) is a village in

Stirling council area The Stirling council area (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has an estimated population of (). It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties ...

and in the

registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, around north-east of the head of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

. The village bills itself as "the gateway to the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

Etymology

The name ''Crianlarich'' is derived probably from the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

meaning either "the wasted site" or "the

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

site" (cf. Gaelic ''critheann'', "aspen").

Situation

The village lies in the valley of

Strath Fillan Strath Fillan () is a strath in west Perthshire named after an 8th-century Irish hermit monk, later canonised as Saint Fillan. Located in the region was once Strath Fillan Priory, an early 14th century foundation, later destroyed by the Campbell ...

at the north western extent of the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; ) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the are ...

, in the shadow of several

Munro A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

peaks, notably Ben More, but also

Stob Binnein Stob Binnein is a mountain in the southern Highlands of Scotland, near Crianlarich. It forms a twin-peak with Ben More 3,852 ft (1,174 m), from which it is separated by the Bealach-eadar-dha Beinn, meaning ''pass between two hills''. ...

and

Cruach Ardrain Cruach Ardrain is a Munro mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, with a height of 1,046 metres (3,432 feet). It is five kilometres southeast of Crianlarich village and is one of the Crianlarich Hills. Name The ...

. Thus Crianlarich is very popular with hillwalkers. Also the village lies along the long-distance footpath, the

West Highland Way The West Highland Way () is a linear Long-distance trail, long-distance route in Scotland. It is long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William, Highland, Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking i ...

. Its location makes Crianlarich a popular stop for tourists and there are a variety of types of overnight accommodation including guesthouses, B&Bs, a youth hostel operated by

Hostelling Scotland Hostelling Scotland (SYHA; Gaelic: ''Comann Osdailean Òigridh na h-Alba'') is part of Hostelling International and provides youth hostel accommodation in Scotland. the organisation represents 58 hostels: 31 run by Hostelling Scotland and 27 af ...

, and a

Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

hotel.

Transport connections

Crianlarich has been a major crossroads for north- and westbound journeys in Scotland since

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times. In the 1750s, two

military roads A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

met in the village; in the 19th century, it became a railway junction on what is now the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...

; in the 20th century it became the meeting point of the major A82 and A85 roads. As such, it is designated a primary destination in Scotland, signposted from as far as

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the south,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in the east,

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

in the west and Fort William in the north. In the 1960s there was even a direction sign for Crianlarich at Swiss Cottage at Camden in London. Since 2016 the A82 by-passes the centre of the village to avoid the low railway bridge. The village is served by Crianlarich railway station located on the

. The routes to Fort William/

Mallaig Mallaig (; ) is a seaport, port in Morar, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It faces Skye from across the Sound of Sleat. The Mallaig railway station, local railway station is the terminus of the West Highlan ...

and

diverge after this station. Access to the platform is via a flight of stairs from a subway that runs underneath the tracks, from the car park which is slightly lower than the station itself. It is also served by a Scottish Citylink coach service up to hourly from Glasgow going on about every two hours to either Oban or Fort William. In 2001, the village had a population of 185.

Lochan Saorach

In nearby

Glen Dochart Glen Dochart () in Perthshire, Scottish Highlands is a glen which runs from Crianlarich eastwards to Killin, following the course of the River Dochart as it flows through Loch Dochart and Loch Iubhair. It is met by Glen Ogle () at Lix Toll. Loc ...

lies Lochan Saorach, mentioned by

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

in 1769 on account of the

floating island A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Sometimes referred to as ''tussocks'', ''floatons'', or ''suds'', floating islands are found in many parts of t ...

it once contained.

Gallery

File:Crianlarich War Memorial.JPG, Crianlarich War Memorial File:Caledonian Sleeper, Crianlarich (geograph 4963273).jpg, The Line to Fort William File:Crianlarich Station. - panoramio.jpg, Crianlarich station File:Road signs in Crianlarich - geograph.org.uk - 936083.jpg, Meeting of the ways File:Crianlarich munros map.jpg, The Crianlarich Munros

References

External links

Crianlarich local community website
Villages in Stirling (council area) {{Stirling-geo-stub