A86 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Length | 64.3 km (40.0 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | A82 at Spean Bridge | |||
East end | A9 at Kingussie | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United Kingdom | |||
Constituent country | Scotland | |||
Road network | ||||
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The A86 is a major road in Scotland. It runs from the Great Glen at Spean Bridge to Kingussie and the Cairngorms National Park via Loch Laggan. It is a primary route for its entire length.
The road was built as a parliamentary road by Thomas Telford in 1817 to link Kingussie to Fort William. [1]
The road has a poor safety record, and has been assessed as medium to high risk of a serious or fatal accident by EuroRAP. [2]
The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at Broxden. A small part of the M90 was originally numbered as the M85 motorway.
Kingussie is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as the town's main street which has been bypassed since 1979. Kingussie is 42 miles south of Inverness, 12 mi (19 km) south of Aviemore, and 3 mi (5 km) north of Newtonmore.
Dalwhinnie distillery, situated in the Highland village of Dalwhinnie in Scotland, produces single malt Scotch whisky. Whilst labelled as Highland, as the Dalwhinnie distillery is located in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland Council, it is in the Speyside region - noting that under SWA regulations the full Speyside region falls within the boundaries of the Highlands and so can be labelled as such. The distillery owned by Diageo.
Kingussie railway station serves the town of Kingussie, Inverness-shire in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line, 71 miles 43 chains (115.1 km) from Perth, between Newtonmore and Aviemore.
Laggan is a village in Badenoch, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is beside the River Spey, about 10 km west of Newtonmore. The A86 road passes through the village and crosses the river on a nearby bridge. It is notable as being the region in Badenoch where the Gaelic language survived the longest.
Loch Laggan is a freshwater loch situated approximately 6+1⁄2 mi (10.5 km) west of Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands. The loch has an irregular shape, runs nearly northeast to southwest and is approximately 7 mi (11 km) in length. It has an average depth of 68 ft (21 m) and is 174 ft (53 m) at its deepest. The eastern end of the loch features the largest freshwater beach in Britain. Since 1934 Loch Laggan has been part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme. At the northeast end of the loch is the hamlet of Kinloch Laggan.
The A84 is a major road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It links the city of Stirling with Lochearnhead, running an approximate 28 miles (45 km).
The A81 road is a major road in Scotland. It runs from Glasgow to Callander via Woodside and Maryhill within the city, as well as Bearsden, Milngavie and Strathblane, a total of 30 miles (48 km).
Spean Bridge is a village in the parish of Kilmonivaig, in Lochaber in the Highland region of Scotland.
The Diocese of Argyll and the Isles is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Scotland, in the Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh.
The A861 road is a circuitous, primarily coastal, road in Lochaber, within the Highland council area of Scotland.
Stob Choire Claurigh is a mountain in Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands, with a height of 1,177 metres (3,862 ft). It is part of the Grey Corries, near Ben Nevis, and lies about 16 km (10 mi) east of Fort William. It is described as one of the best ridge walks on the Scottish mainland.
The Macaulay Association Camanachd Cup is a trophy in the Scottish sport of shinty. It is competed for by the eight highest-placed league teams from the north and south areas of Scotland at the end of the previous season. The first winner of the cup, in 1947, was Newtonmore.
Insh is a village in Highland, Scotland that lies on the east coast of the Insh Marshes. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey area, around 3+1⁄2 miles east of Kingussie, in the Spey valley. It is located in historic Inverness-shire. The B970 road from Kingussie to Kincraig and Aviemore passes through the village. At the other side of the valley is the major A9 road from Inverness to the Central Belt. Along the road towards Ruthven Barracks is the small Speyside Distillery.
Beinn a' Chaorainn is a Scottish mountain situated on the northern side of Glen Spean in the Lochaber region of the Highland Council area. The mountain which is located 30 km east-northeast of Fort William is one of several of the same name in the Scottish Highlands and should not be confused with another well known Beinn a' Chaorainn in the Cairngorms.
Falls of Pattack is a waterfall in the Scottish Highlands' Cairngorm National Park. The falls are on the River Pattack, about 2 km south of the A86 road between Kinloch Laggan and Feagour.
The River Dulnain is a major left bank tributary of the River Spey in northeast Scotland. It rises in the eastern part of the Monadhliath Mountains and flows in a generally northeastward direction through uninhabited country to Sluggan, where it is crossed by Sluggan Bridge, constructed by General Wade to carry a military road. Turning more easterly, the Dulnain passes beneath the modern A9 road which bypasses Carrbridge, the mainline railway and, in Carrbridge itself, the Carrbridge Packhorse Bridge that gives the village its name and the bridge carrying the B9153 road. The final section flowing east-northeast to the village of Dulnain Bridge is accompanied by the A938 road. The river empties into the Spey after passing beneath the A95 road and the disused bridge of the former Strathspey railway.
The River Calder is a left bank tributary of the River Spey in the Scottish Highlands. Its headwaters are the t-Allt Ballach, Allt an Lochain Dubh and Allt Madagain which drain the mountain slopes at the southeastern corner of the Monadhliath. Their waters are added to by those of the Allt Fionndraigh and Allt a' Chaorainn dropping down into Glen Banchor from the north. The river turns southeastwards and skirts the western edge of Newtonmore, running beneath the A86 road before joining the Spey at Spey Bridge.
The East Highland Way is a long-distance walking route in Scotland that connects Fort William (56.8178°N 5.1109°W) with the ski and mountain resort of Aviemore (57.1899°N 3.8292°W). The route was described by Kevin Langan in 2007. The name is derived from the fact that the route terminates in Aviemore at the eastern edge of Highland region. The EHW route takes in a varied and wild landscape through deep forest plantations, passing many highland lochs and negotiating unspoilt marshlands. The route also explores the ancient Caledonian forests of Inshriach. The walk is 82 miles (132 km) long.
The River Spean flows from Loch Laggan in a westerly direction to join the River Lochy at Gairlochy in the Great Glen in the West Highlands of Scotland. Major tributaries of the Spean include the left-bank Abhainn Ghuilbinn and River Treig, the right-bank River Roy and the left-bank river known as The Cour. The river is accompanied by the A86 road for almost its entire length, running from (upper) Loch Laggan west to Spean Bridge. The river is spanned by a bridge carrying the A82 road near its junction with the A86 at Spean Bridge. A minor road bridges the Spean just above the falls at Inverlair. Two further road crossings exist - a private estate road across the short stretch of river between upper Loch Laggan and the Laggan reservoir and a road traversing the top of Laggan Dam. The West Highland Line crosses the river near Tulloch Station and follows its north bank before re-crossing one mile east of Spean Bridge. A branch of the railway formerly continued west beside the river from Spean Bridge, crossing it once again to the west of the village.
56°57′21″N4°28′44″W / 56.9558°N 4.4790°W