Loch Beannach is a small v-shaped loch, located 2 miles to the west of Loch Assynt and 3 miles northeast of Lochinver within the Assynt area of Sutherland, Scotland.[3][2][1] The loch is located in an area known as the Assynt-Coigach National Scenic Area,[4] one of 40 such areas in Scotland.[5]
The northeastern part of the loch is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).[6] The specific area covered are the Downy Birch woodland on eight islands within the loch.[6] The woodland is a prime example of the type that would have covered the area extensively in the past.[6] The area of the site SSSI overlaps with the areas general Assynt Lochs SSSI,[7] that is notable for its population of black-throated divers where the loch is one of the nesting sites for this species.[6] The Loch is also a nesting site for common gull, European golden plover, meadow pipit, red grouse, skylark, barn swallow and wheatear.[2] The water-lily Nuphar pumila grows around the loch.[2]
To the east of the loch is a former crofting township that was cleared during the 19th Century.[8] Its name was never discovered.[8] It consists of 11 former crofts, consisting of sizes of 3.0m by 2.0m to 16.0m by 5.0m in two groups.[8] The evidence for lazy bed cultivation is still visible.[8] On the stream that issues from Loch an t- Sabhail are the remains of a corn-mill and a dam further upstream.[8]
Loch Beannach flows along an unnamed stream into Loch Bad nan Aighean directly south.[9] The ground around the loch is hummocky with stretches of peat bog and water lying between bare rocky knolls.[10]
Directly to the north-west, the loch is overlooked by the triple peak's of Quinag.