Detour #73: Scotland's Most Treacherous Road, UK
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In August 2020 6,000 tonnes of “car sized” rocks fell and blocked the A83 between Inverary and Crianlarich. Yet, amazingly, by the standards of The Rest and Be Thankful road, this was a relatively small disruption.
In one of the most infamous incidents back in 1913 resident James McDonald described a landslide as "boiling with gyrations and spurts of water" and "indescribable roar - the roar of a mountain in torment".
The road’s name dates back centuries, marking the area as a place to “rest and be thankful” having reached the 803 feet summit during the long climb from Glen Croe. A drovers’ track since long before records were kept, a road was first built in 1743 during the Jacobite Rebellion. By the 1920s it was in desperate need of repair or replacement. It was the latter which took place in 1937 at a cost of £100,000 (around £7m in today’s money). The old ‘military road’ is actually still there, and was used for hill climb races in the post war years. Today, it’s only called into action if the A83 is hit.
It’s an event that happens all too often, as the steep slopes were eroded by long-gone glaciers and Scotland’s inclement climate has a tendency to loosen what’s left. Since 2007 no less than nine rockslides have closed the A83 and two of those were in 2020, according to BBC News.
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If you are willing to run the gauntlet then it is a most excellent drive. You’ll hug the edges of Loch Fyne To Cairndow, craggy peaks getting closer as you go, and it’s a steady and largely-straight climb to the Rest and Be Thankful viewpoint. You carry on past Glen Croe and then drop down to the shores of Loch Goil for a short distance before finishing your route north, winding along the banks of Loch Lomond, taking in the mighty Falls of Fallloch and reaching Crianlarich.
If you like your road trips with added peril then check out The World’s Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia.