Getting a smile out of Black Isle road circuit
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CYCLING ROUTE
Ross-shire round
Distance – 30 miles
Terrain – Tarmac cycle paths, minor and B roads, short stretch on busier A road
Maps – OS Landranger 26
Start/finish – Dingwall railway station
Sticking to the quiet roads on a tour across the Black Isle from the county town of Ross-shire
Crossing the Black Isle between the Cromarty and Beauly firths, this bike route follows some of the area’s quietest and most spectacular roads.
It begins at the railway station in Dingwall, the county town of Ross-shire, where you can find one of the Sustrans millennium mileposts in front of the Christian Bookshop. It points you in the direction of Inverness to start the ride.
Turn left out of the station and cut left before the traffic lights on a new stretch of traffic-free cycle path that leads you out of the town towards Maryburgh. The Route 1 signs soon tell you to cross the road but a cycle path continues on the left-hand side and is worth sticking to in this direction.
Continue to the roundabout and turn left, staying on the cycle path. This section is part of the community link between Dingwall and Inverness which was completed in 2008. It’s a fantastic 15-mile route between the county town and the Highland capital.
I stuck with the National Cycle Network route as it joins a side road opposite the Conon Bridge turn-off, bearing right to follow the minor road uphill parallel to the main A835. At the T-junction at the top, go right but instead of following the cycle path left towards Inverness, cross the main road and join the B9169 towards Muir of Ord.
This is a fairly quiet road that rises to Rootfield, the birthplace of the celebrated Victorian soldier Hector Macdonald, and there is a monument here “erected by the friends of his youth” as its plaque says.
From here the road drops and you get a view over the Beauly Firth before the road crosses the line of the old Black Isle railway – which you can follow on foot into Muir of Ord. At a crossroads ahead, go left and follow the A832 through an S-bend and along a long straight.
This busier section soon ends as you carefully take a right turn to join a minor road on a different cycle route to Inverness. There is a blue cycle sign high on the left-hand side of the road, but it’s the first turn after the S-bend, so is easy to identify anyway.
Follow this wonderful quiet road with views over the firth to a junction, where a right turn leads to Redcastle. Villagers here have kindly provided a beautifully decorated area with flowers for visitors to enjoy and picnic tables at which to stop and take a break. It’s a lovely spot often teeming with wading birds when the tide is out and the quiet shore road is really enjoyable for cyclists. It’s a road I never tire of riding and it leads all the way to North Kessock, hugging the edge of the firth as it does so.
I saw plenty of runners out and about along here – presumably in training for this weekend’s half marathon in Inverness, which I’ll also be running.
Where the road arrives at a T-junction, follow the cycle sign left towards Tore and go up the hill, going right onto a cycle path just before the roundabout. Go left to cross the road and head through the underpass.
Keep left where you come out the other side of the A9 and follow the cycle path round until it’s safe to cross the slip road, then follow the minor road up to Drumsmittal. It’s a fair old climb here but there’s a great descent to Munlochy to follow. Watch out for the sharp left turn just before you meet the B9161 which you turn right onto to reach the village.
After the zebra crossing, go left and keep left at the fork ahead to reach a crossroads. Head straight across here and begin the climb back over the Black Isle, which is long but the steepest part is early on so the gradient soon eases off. Keep left at a sharp turn on the way up to Knockbain, passing a trig point before the crossroads on this superb road, where a tractor and another cyclist was the extent of the traffic I saw.
As you reach the top of the climb you get an amazing view of Ben Wyvis and the dramatic tops of the Fannichs – where Peter Evans and I had recently spent a great winter’s day in the mountains for Active Outdoors – are also visible in the distance. Today the Ben was covered in cloud but I could still see patches of snow hanging around on the upper slopes before I concentrated fully on the fast descent to the B9169.
Turn left here to soon cross the busy A9 then almost immediately turn right where a sign points to Urquhart.
This is another wonderful quiet road which soon narrows and steepens so you need to take care on the descent. There are views down to the Cromarty Firth and across to Dingwall, though there’s a bit of a detour around the edge of the firth before you get back there yet.
I tested my brakes out properly beside the cemetery on the approach to the junction at the bottom (thankfully they still worked well) and went left to follow the B9163 towards Conon Bridge, going right then left past the church which is having a new roof fitted and continuing to a junction at Alcaig.
Turn right then follow the road left to reach the cycle path opposite the Conon Bridge turn-off. Go right to join the traffic-free path back to the roundabout but this time cross the road to follow Route 1 back on the old road that runs parallel to the A862.
As it enters Dingwall, there’s more shared-use traffic-free path to stick to rather than having to use the road, and the railway station is well signed for cyclists past the part-time traffic lights, across the road then down a short link route.
This great ride had really blown the cobwebs away and I was high on adrenaline after a superb outing in the saddle.
