RIVERS & LOCHS 

The River Tay system is Scotland’s largest river system; largest in terms of length (117 miles), catchment area and average flow. The Tay’s two longest tributaries rise within a few miles of west coast sea lochs before flowing right across the country to meet the tidal Firth of Tay at Perth and finally discharging into the North Sea beyond Dundee.

But, unlike many other Scottish rivers, the Tay is not a simple single main river, but large tributaries radiate out in all directions from the main stem. Some of these are considerable rivers in their own right, large enough to have their own salmon fisheries.

The Tay’s catchment is crossed by the Highland Boundary Fault, meaning much of it drains mountain ranges, from Ben Lui and Black Mount in the west, to the southern Cairngorms and the Angus Hills in the north east. As they pass through these glens, some of the Tay’s tributaries pass through some of Scotland’s biggest and most famous lochs, such as Loch Tay, Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch. It is from this massive mountain catchment combined with huge loch storage that the Tay derives most of its great flow.

Finally, in its lowest reaches the Tay flows through rich farming country, picking up rivers of a much more lowland character, notably the Isla, before reaching Perth.

Below Perth, the tidal Tay is joined by the River Earn, a significant river in its own right, rising in the hills west of Loch Earn, but assuming very much a lowland character below Crieff.

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