A chance to try Nessie spotting – in a brand new way

Many of us have gone Nessie spotting over the years – but here’s a chance to try it in a way you probably haven’t before.

Thrill-seeking monster hunters are in for a treat this summer, with canal custodians Scottish Canals set to install a high-flying zipline over the mythic waters of Loch Ness.

The Nessie Zipline will see visitors to the Caledonian Canal soar over the loch from the nearby hills of Loch Tarff, hurtling at speeds of up to 55 miles-per-hour over a distance of more than 2,500 metres before touching down at Fort Augustus.

As well as providing an incredible experience for visitors, it’s also hoped the new zipline might offer high-flying monster hunters the chance to catch a glimpse of Loch Ness’ most famous (and reclusive) resident – Nessie.

Dr Len Choss, head of new experiences at Scottish Canals, said: ‘We’re always looking to offer our visitors incredible new experiences on Scotland’s canals and soaring over the waters of Loch Ness with the wind in your hair and iconic sights all around on the Nessie Zipline certainly lives up to that description.

‘Hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world already take a trip to Fort Augustus and the loch each year hoping to catch a glimpse of its most reclusive resident. Now they’ll have the chance to go monster-hunting from the air, we expect the number of sightings of Nessie to, quite fittingly, skyrocket. We look forward to welcoming the world to the Nessie Zipline and the Caledonian Canal Centre this summer.’

The Nessie Zipline is set to open this summer, with tickets for the adrenaline-pumping attraction available from the Caledonian Canal Centre in Fort Augustus. On completion, the zipline – which will not affect navigation of the loch – will be one of the longest in the world.

Loch Ness is famous all over the globe, not only for the monster which is said to inhabit its waters, but as an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is estimated that the Loch Ness Monster or ‘Nessie’ phenomenon is worth more than £60 million to the Scottish economy. Hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to Loch Ness every year hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster.

Scotland’s longest inland waterway, the 60-mile Caledonian Canal links the east and west coasts via stretches of man-made waterway and lochs Dochfour, Ness, Oich, and Lochy. It was built to provide a shortcut between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Running from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east, the canal carves through an extraordinary range of terrain, from fen to forest and marshland to mountains, as it follows the course of the Great Glen – the rift valley that provides the waterway with much of its breathtaking mountain scenery.

For more information, visit www.scottishcanals.co.uk.