Bealach na Bà

Bealach na Bà is a winding, single track road through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula, in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands. The historic mountain pass is engineered similarly to roads through the great mountain passes in the Alps, with very tight hairpin bends that switch back and forth up the hillside and gradients that approach 20%. It boasts the steepest ascent of any road climb in the UK, rising from sea level at Applecross to 626m, and is the third highest road in Scotland.The name is Scottish Gaelic for Pass of the Cattle, as it was historically used as a drovers' road. Bealach na Ba is pronounced Bee-al-uch nu Ba(h).The Bealach, as it is known for short, is unsuitable for learner drivers, large vehicles and motorhomes. Please use caution while travelling up and down the Bealach. The route is often impassible in winter.MediaThe road featured in several episodes of the television series Hamish Macbeth (much of which was filmed in nearby Plockton), which pictures it having a roadsign that indicates: "Narrow road - no more than three sheep abreast". The road was also featured in the 1953 film Laxdale Hall.