A861 road

A861
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

A861 near Resipole in June 2009

The A861 road is a circuitous, primarily coastal, road in Highland, Scotland.

The A861 serves the communities of the remote Ardgour, Sunart, Moidart and Ardnamurchan areas Although the ends of this road are only 14 miles (23 km) apart (the direct link being by way of the A830 road) its total length is 80 miles (130 km).

Route (clockwise)

The A861 is a long-way-round route in the Lochaber area of western Scotland, connecting the A830 Fort William to Mallaig road with itself via the shores of Loch Sunart.

• junction with the A830 road west of Kinlocheil
• under the West Highland Line
• through Drimsallie
• eastwards along the south shore of Loch Eil, through Garvan, Duisky and Blaich
• until Loch Eil meets Loch Linnhe and the road turns generally southwestwards through Camusnagaul and Trislaig to Ardgour where the Corran Ferry provides a vehicular crossing to Corran and the main A82 road
• the A861 them continues to along the western shore of Loch Linnhe to Inversanda and where it strikes inland westwards through Glen Tarbert; the B8043 road leaving about half a mile from Inversanda to follow the southwesterly route
• after passing through Achnalea the A861 resumes its coastal nature when it follows the north shore of Loch Sunart
• near this is its only junction (other than its terminuses) with another A-road when the A884 road diverges
• continuing westward the road goes through the lochside communities of Strontian, Ardnastang, Woodend, Camasachoirce and Camasine turning slightly to the north to follow the loch to Resipole and Salen
• the coast of Loch Sunart is now followed by the B8007 as the A861 strikes inland due north to Acharacle where the B8044 leaves to the west
• the A861 then turns east to go through Blain, Mingarrypark and Dalnabreck;
• it then turns north and then northwest to reach Loch Moidart and the settlements of Ardmolich and Kinlochmoidart
• after following the loch shore it again strikes inland to reach the Sound of Arisaig at Glenuig
• the route is then generally northeastwards along the south shore of Loch Ailort through Inverailort to meet the A830 at Lochailort.

History

The first section of what is now the A861 appears to have been built by Thomas Telford in c. 1810. Before that there really wasn't a road from Corran to Strontian. In Autumn 1746 a Redcoat Major searching out Jacobite rebels in the aftermath of Culloden found the route from Loch Linnhe to Loch Sunart as a 'lengthy pathless scramble over the steep rocky overhangs and mountain streams' of Glen Tarbet. It was through this boggy wasteland that Telford's men constructed a Road less than 70 years later. The A861 and B850 in 1939 As mentioned above, the road from Kinlochmoidart to Lochailort is all 'new', having been built in the 1960s to try and support the communities along this remote shore. Before it was built, the A861 terminated at Salen, where the B8007 turns off to Kilchoan and the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. The onward route was the B850, which wound its way through Acharacle and on to Kinlochmoidart, having junctions with the B8044 as now and the B8006, which used to run down to Dalelia on the shore of Loch Shiel but has long since been unclassified. Before that, however, the A861 number was not one originally allocated in 1922. Back in 1922, the road from Drimsallie to Carnoch, just east of Strontian, was the B849; the onward route through Strontian to Acharacle, the B850. It is also interesting to note that a Ward Map of Inverness-shire dated in the 1840s does not show the Kinlocheil - Corran section of this road. Many other roads across the former county are marked that no longer exist (Strathan, Loch Arkaig - Sourlies, Loch Nevis for starters), but only the Ardgour - Salen section of what later became the A861 is shown. This suggests that in the century before 1940 the Kinlocheil - Corran section was constructed and then later rebuilt on a new alignment, and considering how little traffic uses this route today that is quite surprising! Some pictures of bridges on original road. Sallachan Bridge near Sallachan Farm. Very nice old stone bridge over the Allt Feithe An Amean.

Function

The best motorcycle road!