Loch Morie
{{Short description|Mountain loch in Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Loch Morie
| basin_countries = Scotland, United Kingdom
| coordinates = {{coord|57|45|05|N|4|28|19.1|W|region:GB_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}
| elevation = {{convert|146|m|abbr=on}}
| image = Shores of Loch Morie - geograph.org.uk - 2866357.jpg
| length = {{convert|2.19|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| location = Scottish Highlands
| outflow = River Averon
| width = {{convert|968|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| caption = Loch Morie from its eastern shore, with its sole island, centre
| pushpin_map = Scotland Ross and Cromarty
| islands = 1
| inflow = Abhainn na Glasa, Allt na Ruighe Lèithe, Allt a' Choire Lèith, Allt na Fainge, Allt an t-Seagaill, Allt a' Phuinnd, Allt na Cille
}}
Loch Morie is a large mountain loch in Easter Ross, roughly 11.5 km northwest of Alness. It is the source of the River Averon which runs through the town before entering the Cromarty Firth.
The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic mòr, meaning "big" i.e. "Big Loch".{{Cite web |last=midasiak |date=2019-11-07 |title=The Gaelic origins of place names in Britain |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/the-gaelic-origins-of-place-names-in-britain/#:~:text=Background%20to%20Scottish%20Gaelic&text=It%20has%20left%20us%20with,usually%20from%20cill%20or%20coille. |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=OS GetOutside |language=en-US}}
At the loch's east end, where the River Averon begins, there is a small stony island which was believed to be the remains of a crannog, following archaeological surveys in 1931 and 1989.{{Cite web |title=Loch Morie {{!}} Canmore |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/12961/loch-morie |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=canmore.org.uk |language=en}} However, a 2023 survey by the North of Scotland Archaeological Survey found no evidence of artificial structures on or around the island, suggesting it is a natural feature.{{Cite web |title=MHG8889 - Crannog? Loch Morie - Highland Historic Environment Record |url=https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG8889 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241205200719/https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG8889 |archive-date=2024-12-05 |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=her.highland.gov.uk |language=en-gb}}
Loch Morie was chosen as part of a 1902 bathymetrical study by Sir John Murray, the "father of modern oceanography".{{Cite web |title=Loch Morie (Vol. 4, Plate 63) - Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897-1909 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/bathymetric/chart/2115 |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=maps.nls.uk}} It sits in a mixed bed of psammite and pelite.{{Cite web |title=Digimap Discovery Service |url=https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/shibboleth-ds/DS?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fgeoshibb.edina.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&return=https%3A%2F%2Fdigimap.edina.ac.uk%2FShibboleth.sso%2FDS%3FSAMLDS%3D1%26target%3Dcookie%253A1742471244_09a4 |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=digimap.edina.ac.uk}}
Today, the loch is a popular site for angling, with ample stocks of brown trout, ferox trout, salmon, and Arctic char.{{Cite web |title=Fishing at Kildermorie Estate in rivers, lochs and hill lochs |url=https://www.kildermorie.co.uk/fishing.html |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=www.kildermorie.co.uk}}