Why this ride
curated scenic road. hairpins, Highland pass, sea views
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bealach na Ba Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 28 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 22 min
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
North Coast 500
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 15 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 15 km
- Named road
- North Coast 500
- Pass
- Bealach na Ba
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bealach na Ba Road point 1
Tornapress is not much more than a handful of houses at the head of Loch Kishorn, but it marks the start of one of the great roads of Britain. The Bealach na Bà, the Pass of the Cattle, climbs from sea level to over six hundred metres in a few miles, the steepest ascent of any road in the country, and the first sight of it, a thin grey line zigzagging up the hillside into the cloud, is enough to make you check your brake pads.
Read the complete Bealach na Ba Road point 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bealach na Ba Road point 1 sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Bealach na Ba Road point 2.
2. Bealach na Ba Road point 2
At the summit of the Bealach na Bà the world opens like a door. You have climbed through hairpins and past rocky gullies to a bare plateau at about six hundred and twenty-six metres, with a car park, a sign and, on a clear day, a view west across the Inner Sound to the islands of Raasay and Skye, with the Cuillin ridge jagged beyond. On a bad day you can see your front wheel. Both versions are worth having.
Read the complete Bealach na Ba Road point 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bealach na Ba Road point 2 comes up 10 km in. Next is Bealach na Ba Road point 3.
3. Bealach na Ba Road point 3
Applecross sits on the western edge of the peninsula, facing the Isle of Skye across a narrow strait, and it is the kind of place that the long road to reach it makes you appreciate. The village is a scatter of white cottages along a sheltered bay, with a church, a small shop, a walled garden and, famously, an inn on the shore that serves seafood to riders who have just survived the pass.
Read the complete Bealach na Ba Road point 3 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
28 km in you reach Bealach na Ba Road point 3.