IT MAY not seem like an obvious tourist trap. Jutting out of the Scottish landscape, Knockan Crag, which is 430 million years old, attracts only a handful of visitors each day.
But Scottish Natural Heritage (SNR) is looking at ways of transforming the ancient geological feature into a tourist attraction to rival the likes of Fingal's Cave and the Old Man of Hoy.
The outcrop in Wester Ross, 11 miles north-east of Ullapoo
l, was created by the Moine Thrust, a geological phenomenon in which older metamorphic rocks ended up on top of younger sedimentary rocks – the reverse of what might be expected.
That episode created the Caledonian mountain belt, which ran through what we now call Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the eastern United States.
Despite an international reputation, Knockan Crag is relatively unknown. But a six-year vision for the area, launched yesterday, includes plans to lure more people to see what hundreds of millions of years have done to Scotland's landscape.
The Knockan Crag National Nature Reserve (NNR) presently attracts about 20,000 visitors a year but it is thought double that figure could be accommodated.
Sue Agnew, SNH's area officer, who is based in Ullapool, said: "Some of the proposals we are considering include increasing our marketing and promotion of the NNR locally and nationally to increase visitors' awareness of the site.
"From a visitor attraction point of view, it would be fantastic if we could double the number of visitors, although an increase of 10 to 20 per cent would be good.
"A lot of the professional geologists don't use the centre, as it's much more geared towards the general visitor. We get people of all ages, but a lot of visitors are not from Scotland. It's well known overseas, particularly among those with an interest in geology."
Ms Agnew said the main focus at Knockan Crag was to protect the geological features while keeping management to a minimum. "We consider it an important attraction for local people as well as visitors," she said.
"But we won't be developing to the stage of tearooms or having a big theme park. It's very much trying to keep it within the local landscape."
Dr Kathryn Goodenough, a geologist with the British Geological Survey, welcomed moves to increase awareness of the crag.
"It's a world-famous site and geologists come from all over the world to have a look at it because it's a classic example of a thrust and it is one of the first places where the process was recognised," she said.
"The centre shows you the thrust and the fact that the rocks below the thrust are 500 million years old and the ones on top are more like 1,000 years old.
"It gives you an idea of the structures that shaped Scotland's landscape."
TOP OF THE ROCKS
ARTHUR'S SEAT AND SALISBURY CRAGS: Edinburgh's volcanic rocks date back around 350-400 million years.
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY: The rock formation in Antrim, Northern Ireland, is a legacy of huge lava flows from volcanoes which erupted 50-60 million years ago in the North Atlantic.
FINGAL'S CAVE: The volcanic eruptions that created the Giant's Causeway also formed this landmark on Staffa.
OLD MAN OF HOY: A 450ft sea stack of red sandstone perched on a plinth of igneous basalt on the west coast of Hoy in Orkney.
ROCK OF GIBRALTAR: Sometimes called the Pillar of Hercules, a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar.
ULURU, aka AYERS ROCK: Famous sandstone formation in the Northern Territory, Australia, below.
GRAND CANYON: Gorge in Arizona in the US carved by the Colorado River over six million years.
The full article contains 613 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
