7. WHERE CONTINENTS COLLIDED

KNOCKAN CRAG

At Knockan Crag, north of Ullapool in the far northwest of Scotland, you can unlock the mysteries of one of the oldest landscapes in Europe, and see evidence of where continents collided.

Follow the Thrust Trail from the visitor centre through the ‘knock and lochan’ landscape to see the internationally famous Moine Thrust, where much older and darker Moine schists were pushed over the younger and lighter Durness limestone – leaving the older rocks on top. Here you can bridge an unimaginable 500 million years of geological history with one hand.

The theory of this dramatic rock reversal was confirmed in 1882 by two brilliant geologists, Benjamin Peach and John Horne from the Scottish Geological Survey.