England-Scotland Day 8 (Part 3) – Driving up the Bealach na Ba, or Pass of the Cattle at Applecross Peninsula

10 April 2010 

The Bealach na Ba, or Pass of the Cattle is a single-track mountain road going up the steep mountain with numerous hair-pin turns and steep ascent to over 2000 feet above sea level in about five miles and leads to the Applecross village.

According to my research prior to my trip, it provides some of the most challenging driving in Scotland and even has a road sign at the start of the route warning beginner drivers not to take this route.

The beginning of the pass is along the A896.

Sure enough, there was a sign warning beginner drivers not to take the pass.

Undulating single track road at the beginning part.

Here is a short video of the beginning part of our journey up the mountain.

See this video to get a feel of how it was like driving up the Bealach na Ba. At the end of the video, we encountered an oncoming car and it showed how we passed each other at one of “passing places”.

The beginning part was not so bad although there were many blind spots. Further up, the road became narrower, steeper and there were fewer passing places for longer stretch of the road. So there was a constant dread of having to face oncoming cars at a tight spot.

There was a car park at the peak.  We parked our car next to a marker, installed by the Automotive Association, stating this place is 2053 feet above sea level.

Car park at the look out point. Taking pictures of the panoramic view was the first thing on your mind once out of the car!

View of the mountains in the Isle of Skye, across the sea, from the look-out point at Applecross Pass.

Feeling on top of the world.

It was strange to find these pools of water at the such high elevations.

Stacked stones were a common sight.

The place was quite desolated. We were the only ones wandering around, experiencing the high mountain wind, sun and views.

Here is a video of our journey back down from the top.



See this video to get a feel of how it was like driving down from the top of the Bealach na Ba.

Coming down the pass, I was driving slower than on the way up. This was partially due to the fact that the road surface near the top was more slippery, with many small pebbles. Have to be careful. 

Furthermore, I had to use a lower gear. Lastly but most importantly, I wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery! So, it was one eye on the road and the other taking in the scenery and going slow.

By the time we came down from the Applecross pass, it was about 5.15 PM. We managed to reach the Isle of Skye in good time and crossing the Skye bridge at about 6 PM. In the past, before the Skye bridge was built, cars had to be transferred across to the island by ferry. Now it was a breeze to get across to the Isle of Skye using the bridge. Toll free too.

It was an easy drive into Portree where our B&B was located.