The River Earn () in

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 ...

leaves Loch Earn at St Fillans and runs east through

Strathearn Strathearn or Strath Earn (), also the Earn Valley, is the strath of the River Earn, which flows from Loch Earn to meet the River Tay in the east of Scotland. The area covers the stretch of the river, containing a number of settlements in ...

, then east and south, joining the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

near Abernethy. The Earn is about long. It passes by Comrie,

Crieff Crieff (; , meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 road, A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy, Scotland, Aberfeldy. The A822 road, A822 joins ...

(where it is joined by the Pow of Inchaffray) and Bridge of Earn. The river is fast flowing, with many shoals, whilst the surrounding land is generally flat and is occasionally subject to flooding. Near to the River Earn lay the ancient Strageath

Roman Camp ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

. This camp was one of a series of camps used by the Romans to construct their invasion of the north; other notable camps in this chain are Ardoch,

Stracathro Stracathro () is a small place in Angus, Scotland. It was the site of a Roman camp, Roman marching camp as their forces invaded to the north. Location Stracathro is located southeast of Edzell in north-east Angus. It lies to the north-east of ...

Battledykes Battledykes is a Roman camp slightly to the north of Forfar, Scotland. According to Hector Boece, Pictish chiefs met at a castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the ...

Raedykes Raedykes is the site of a Roman marching camp located just over northwest of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. National Grid Reference NO 842902. It is designated as a scheduled monument. A marching camp was a temporary camp used mainly fo ...

and

Normandykes Normandykes (Grid Reference: NO 830994) is the site of a Roman marching camp to the southwest of Peterculter, City of Aberdeen, Scotland. The near-rectangular site, measuring approximately , covers about of the summit and eastern slopes of a ...

Leisure and tourism

The river is popular for

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

, and the banks are accessible at many points. One of the most popular walks is a route along the north bank at Crieff known as Lady Mary's Walk.

Fishing

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

is available on many sections of the river. The Earn forms part of the area of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, the statutory body that controls and manages stocks of

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

along all rivers within the Tay catchment area. Fishing permits are issued by the individual estates for each section of the river. The River Earn Improvement Association, a voluntary organisation composed of fishing rights holders and local angling clubs, works to improve fish stocks in the river. As part of this work the association has gradually purchased the rights to undertaken commercial salmon fishing with fixed nets at locations on the Earn. The association does not exercise these rights, and purchased them in order to improve salmon numbers in the river. By 2005 all commercial netting had been eliminated from the Earn.

River Earn National Scenic Area

The section of the river between Comrie and St Fillans forms part of a national scenic area (NSA), one of 40 such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development. The River Earn NSA covers 3,108 ha, all of which lies within Perth and Kinross. The original 1978 report that led to the area being designated as a national scenic area noted:

References

{{authority control Earn 1Earn National scenic areas of Scotland Protected areas of Perth and Kinross