B869 · Scotland
North Coast 500: the Drumbeg road
The North Coast 500 is a 516-mile loop around the north of Scotland from Inverness. This page covers its twistiest stretch: the single-track B869 Drumbeg road along the Assynt coast, from Lochinver to the Kylesku Bridge. The Bealach na Bà, further south, is also on the NC500.
Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.
Where is the Drumbeg road?
The Drumbeg road is in Scotland, on the B869. Also known as NC500 or Drumbeg road. The route on this page: Lochinver to Kylesku on the B869, one stretch of the 516-mile NC500, 24.6 miles.
Why the Drumbeg road is famous
The NC500 was launched in 2015 and quickly became one of the best-known road trips in Britain. The B869 is its wildest piece: narrow, steep and blind, climbing and dropping between sea lochs, beaches and the hamlet of Drumbeg.
Drumbeg road corners
Over 39.6 km Turini calls 2 hairpins and 249 corners graded 1 to 6, plus 8 crests and 9 dips. That is 277 calls in all, one every 143 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes). On Turini’s ranking of the twistiest famous roads it comes 25th of 61.
Drumbeg road elevation profile
From 3 m at the start to 1 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 140 m. Red marks are the hairpins.
Drumbeg road pace notes, first few miles
The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.
Right 2Left 6BridgeRight 4 tightensLeft 1 longNarrowsLeft 5Right 2Left 2 longCrestBig crestRight 6DipRight 3 in dipLeft 5Left 5Left 6Right 6CrestRight 2Left 2BridgeRight 2Left 1BridgeThat takes you to 3.63 km. 252 more calls follow over the remaining 36.0 km.
Before you drive the Drumbeg road
Open all year. Winter brings short days, ice and closures in bad weather.
It is a single-track road with passing places: pull in to let others pass, and don’t park in them. Steep gradients and tight bends make it unsuitable for caravans and large motorhomes, which should stay on the A837 and A894.
How to drive the Drumbeg road with Turini
Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It plays through the phone or the car speakers. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.
Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.
The Drumbeg road: questions
Is the Drumbeg road open all year?
Open all year. Winter brings short days, ice and closures in bad weather.
Where is the Drumbeg road?
The Drumbeg road is in Scotland, on the B869. Also known as NC500 or Drumbeg road. The route on this page: Lochinver to Kylesku on the B869, one stretch of the 516-mile NC500, 24.6 miles.
How long is the Drumbeg road?
The route on this page, Lochinver to Kylesku on the B869, one stretch of the 516-mile NC500, is 24.6 miles (39.6 km) long, with about 2,030 ft (620 m) of climbing.
How many corners does the Drumbeg road have?
On this route Turini calls 249 corners graded 1 to 6 and 2 hairpins: 277 pace-note calls in all, about 10.2 corners a mile.
How high does the Drumbeg road go?
The highest point on this route is about 460 ft (140 m), from terrain data, so it can differ from the signposted height by a few tens of metres. It starts at 10 ft and finishes at 0 ft.
More roads like the Drumbeg road
Best driving roads in Europe · Best driving roads in the UK · The twistiest famous roads, ranked · All famous roads · How to read pace notes · How to find twisty roads near you
Sources: Wikipedia: North Coast 500.
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