Dr Laura Hamlet, North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark

Legend has it that the Scottish North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark is where the Norse gods practised their mountain-building skills before they created Norway. There is a thread of truth to the legend, because the Caledonian-Appalachian Orogeny is the common shared geological heritage of Norway, Scotland, Greenland and North America. In the North West Highlands you are surrounded by the Earth’s early history, stretching from the Archaean to the Devonian, with an abundance of ‘deep time’ geological heritage. The low population density, late retreating glaciers, deforestation and slow plant colonisation have produced a perfect storm to help view features from a huge range of geological time periods. 

Travelling north-west past Inverness through the Scottish Highlands you enter the southern end of the North West Highlands Geopark near the busy ferry port and fishing town of Ullapool. 

To continue the journey, click here.