Bealach na Ba

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The 'Pass of the Cattle' was the only road linking Applecross with the rest of the country until the late 20th century.

The Bealach na Ba (Gaelic: Pass of the Cattle, see Cattle droving) is a famous, twisting, single-track mountain road, rising to 626 metres (2053 feet) in the Applecross peninsula, in Wester Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It is one of very few roads in the Scottish Highlands which is engineered in a similar fashion to the great mountain passes in the Alps, with very tight hairpin bends which switch back and forth up the hillside, with gradients approaching 20%.

The road was featured in several episodes of the television series Hamish Macbeth (much of which was filmed in nearby Plockton), in which is it pictured as having a roadsign indicating: "Narrow road - no more than three sheep abreast".

Recently a cycling event has been staged in the surrounding region to the Bealach Na Ba - the Bealach Na Ba Challenge - this 90 mile cyclosportive is certainly a challenge although the pass is neither the highest nor the steepest road climb in the UK. A shorter race - the so-called Bealach Beag is staged in May with its big brother, the Mor, being staged in September.