With “Extreme” in our channel name we couldn’t miss the NC500 opportunity of driving the notorious Bealach na Ba (aka Applecross Pass). The Applecross Pass is the UK’s toughest driving being the steepest accent from sea level at 2,054ft. Add in its hairpin bends and that it is single track, its easy to see why this route to Applecross has a fearsome reputation.
This was the only route to Applecross until 1975 when the road that follows the coast was built. We took this route back and it was stunning so if your nerves are not up to the Applecross Pass experience then this is a great alternative. Its also the only route allowed if you are towing a caravan.
In our 7.5m Motorhome we didn’t have any issues but we could see how this could easily turn into a bad experience if it was busier or the weather conditions were not good. The pass is so high it could easily be covered in low level cloud at the top.
00:00 Applecross Pass
07:29 The decent
10:09 Alternative route back
Gear:
360 Camera: GoPro MAX
Hand Camera: Gopro Hero 7
Editing Software: FCPX
Graphics: Motion 5
Motorhome: Carthago T148H
ebikes: Giant Dirt ePro 2018
#NC500 #ApplecrossPass #Motorhome
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22 Comments
Doing this in May next year. Are campers now banned from it because that would suck
Just wow.🎉 I'd have been in the back of your van with a blanket over my head. 😂 And I'm a Highlander. 😅
Great videos! Did the Applecross several times, always a great experience!
At what time of the year was your trip?
Thanks for sharing your beautiful videos!
It's called bealach na ba pass btw
Is this the one in the Lake District ? l couldn't get up it with my Ford Transit camper van ! It took many attempts ! l was lucky the road was dry ! Eventually l made it !
That first (as you called on film ‘easy’)hairpin bend…… I got a 14 ton lorry briefly stuck across the hairpin in snow in 2005 😂
Try the Healy Pass in Ireland not as high but just as stunning great video.
Basic rule, vehicle going down gives way to vehicle going up.
That’s an easy route, try the Hardknott Pass in the Lake District. That’s a proper test. I first did it in 1977 in a mini, no power steering and drum brakes all round and 4 people in it.
I find it def easy but plenty don’t.
Am actually laughing here all the dramatic music. Its the applecross road.. it's just a road. If you live in Scotland its nothing new we drive on roads like that every day.
toughest climb my arse – try going to the Lakes. Hardknott Pass in a 6m van.
Taking a wheely shed over the Bealach, ignoring the ‘no caravans, no motor homes’ signs. What larks Pippin. Lost count of the hours wasted when two sheds meet up, waiting for the police to come and sort it. Do return soon, won’t you?
Now try Timmelsjoch in Austria for a few more numbered hairpins😉
We dont want to see you on the turns, we want to see the road. You do this on every harpin, cutting out the most interesting part. Other than that nice video of beautiful scenery.
Looks like you had beautiful weather on that trip, I had family holidays as a child to Applecross, so your road trip brings back happy memories for me. I haven't been back for probably 35 years now, maybe time I made another visit! By that way, at around 13:28 as you drive along , that red roofed white cottage on the left is the subject of a thousand instagram photos!! It is much photographed, thought you might have stopped to get your own version! Thanks for sharing the video.
That's where you need a decent lump to pull you along. I wouldn't go near a full size motorhome with anything smaller than 3 litre.
It is very antisocial to take motorhomes over Bealach na Ba. The only large vehicles that should be allowed over there should be work vehicles.
I have worked in Kishorn port and used to run from the point 1m 38 secs in, up the pass for 5km and then back down again, in heavy wind and rain. It was brutal, but felt brilliant on the way back down, with the views across the loch.
Thanks for the video
We're not with you….
That was a lovely drive; thanks for taking us with you. Nice background music too 😊
Nice vid.
Pass is no trouble at all in a car less than 14 feet long… till you meet,or have to follow something..big.
Bealach na Ba – Gaelic for "Pass of the Burning Clutch".
The correct name of the route is the Bealach na Ba.
The Applecross Pass label is a lazy interpretation that does not reflect the true meaning of the name and it is disrespectful to the indigenous Gaelic culture.
Gaelic names are very informative and tell us a lot about the history of a place.
Changing place names erodes the the culture that formed the very place you chose to visit.