Cycle Touring in Northern Scotland and the NC500

The North Coast 500 is a road route around the north of Scotland promoted by the North Highland Initiative, a charitable institution. The steep gradients and busy traffic make parts of the North Coast 500 (NC500) less than attractive for leisure cyclists.  Now Mike Wells has created an alternative 528-mile route from Inverness to Inverness. It has been published as a Cicerone guidebook.

Mike says: “When I write guidebooks, I always visit the area twice. On my first visit in spring 2018, I cycled the full 516 miles of the NC500 but I found a number of problems, including the steepness of gradients on the narrow roads in the Applecross and Assynt peninsulas and the speed of traffic on the busy A9 east coast main road between Wick and Tain.

“As a result, when I revisited the area in late summer 2018, I followed a different route with the aim of avoiding these problems. This proved to be an attractive way of cycling around Northern Scotland, most of which I decided to make the main route in my new Cicernone guide.”

528-mile Northern Scotland cycle route

The circular cycling route from Inverness Castle back to Inverness Castle is 528 miles, 12 miles longer than the suggested NC500 route for motorists.

It is divided into 16 stages, 10 of which follow the same route as the NC500 and six that follow an alternative route. They vary in distance from 15 miles (Tain‒Cromarty ferry) to 55 miles (Gairloch‒Ullapool) with an average of 33 miles. This variation occurs as a result of Mike ensuring that every stage ends at somewhere with a choice of places to overnight.

There are five main differences to the NC500 route:

1. Leaving Inverness at the start, quiet roads are used along the north shore of Beauly Firth rather than the busy A862 along the south shore.

2. The gentle gradients of the A896, which runs directly from Lochcarron to Shieldaig, are used to avoid the ultra-steep Bealach na Bà pass and the narrow undulating coast road around the Applecross peninsula. I recognise that some readers will want the challenge of Bealach, so I have included this and Applecross as an alternative route.

3. An alternative route is offered to avoid the narrow, frequently undulating Assynt coastal road between Lochinver to Kylesku.

4. The main difference is the use of National Cycle Route NCN1 south from Melvich on the Pentland Firth, using quiet country roads through the Sutherland flow country, then south up Strathnaver and down Glen Shin to reach Tain. This avoids the fast and busy A9 east-coast main road. For cyclists happy with the main road, I’ve included it as an alternative, although I do not recommend this.

5. Between Tain and Inverness, the route again follows NCN1, using the Cromarty ferry and cycling across the Black Isle to avoid the very busy A9. An alternative is offered via Dingwall for times of the year when the ferry is not running.

Table of cycle route stages

stage	start	finish	via	distance (miles)	distance (KM)	ascent (metres)	descent (metres)
1	Inverness	Garve		24.5	39.5	237	189
2	Garve	Lochcarron		36.5	58.5	214	281
3	Lochcarron	Shieldaig	direct route	15.5	24.5	301	302
3A	Lochcarron	Shieldaig	Bealach na Bà	42.5	68	1292	1293
4	Shieldaig	Gairloch		36.5	59	597	589
5	Gairloch	Ullapool		55	88.5	1078	1081
6	Ullapool	Lochinver		35.5	57.5	606	611
7	Lochinver	Kylesku		24.5	39	770	749
8	Kylesku	Durness		35	56.5	714	699
9	Durness	Tongue		29.5	47	596	591
10	Tongue	Melvich		27.5	44	744	781
11	Melvich	John o’Groats	coast route	35.5	57	396	399
12	John o’ Groats	Melvich	inland route	36.5	59	432	429
13	Melvich	Altnaharra		48.5	78	445	371
14	Altnaharra	Tain		46.5	75	299	354
12A	John o’ Groats	Lybster	A9	30	48.5	345	282
13A	Lybster	Brora	A9	33	53	618	675
14A	Brora	Tain	A9	25	40.5	229	213
15	Tain	Nigg (for Cromarty)	using ferry	15	24.5	112	134
16	Cromarty	Inverness		26	41.5	416	397
15A	Tain	Dibgwall	avoiding ferry	23	37	255	272
16A	Dingwall	Inverness		14.5	24	201	187
			[Altnaharra	528	849	7957
Total	Inverness	Inverness	[Boroa A9	481	774	7901
			[Applecross	555	893	8948

Overview of the stages

Stage  1:  Inverness city centre, Beauly Firth, Glen Ord Distillery, Rogie Falls

Stage  2:  Strath Bran, Strathcarron lined on both sides by Munros

Stage  3:  Bealach na Bà pass, Applecross peninsula (both on alternative route)

Stage  4:  Torridon, Loch Maree, Gairloch

Stage  5:  Inverewe gardens, view of An Teallach, Corrieshalloch gorge, Loch Broom, Ullapool

Stage  6:  Knockan crag, Stonecrubie bone caves, Ardvreck Castle, Loch Assynt.

Stage  7:  Assynt, Quinag, Kylesku

Stage  8:  Scourie, Strath Dionard, Cape Wrath ferry, Durness

Stage  9:  Smoo cave, Loch Eriboll, Tongue

Stage 10: Bettyhill

Stage 11: Dounreay, Thurso, Castle of Mey, John o’ Groats

Stage 12: View of Orkney, Castletown

Stage 13: Flow country, Forsinard RSPB reserve, Strathnaver, Altnaharra

Stage 14: Crask Inn, Lairg, Falls of Shin, Carbisdale Castle, Glenmorangie Distillery

Stage 15: Hilton of Cadboll pictish stone, Nigg‒Cromarty ferry

Stage 16: Cromarty, Black Isle, Inverness.

Cycle Touring in Northern Scotland by Mike Wells is published by Cicerone and costs £14.95.

• Mike and other cycling experts will be hosting workshops and talks at The Adventure Travel Show, London, Olympia on January 18-19, 2020. See www.adventureshow.com