Fort Augustus

Fort Augustus is a popular tourist destination on the Caledonian Canal at the heart of the Great Glen. Mid way between Fort William and Inverness, it lies at the southern end of Loch Ness. As the largest settlement within the Great Glen itself, it is home to a high school, shops and services, as well as a large number of hotels, guest houses and other facilities for tourists. At the centre of the village is the swing bridge over the canal, which can cause hold ups in the summer, but with a short staircase of locks south of the bridge, many visitors will park up to watch the boats progress through the locks.

Junction

The village takes its name from the Fort, which was erected almost 250 years ago by General Caulfeild after the second Jacobite rising in 1745. It replaced an earlier fort built by General Wade a little to the south west. Both were situated at an important junction in the military road network, with the main Inverness - Fort William route running along the eastern shore of Loch Ness, roughly along the modern B862, before assuming the route of the A82 to the south. There was also a road heading east, which crossed the hills to reach the A887 / A87 route to the barracks at Glenelg on the west coast.

The exact location of the original junction in Fort Augustus was probably the fort itself, although the local Highlanders would not have been able to access the fort all the time, so they would have created alternative tracks to bypass the fort. There was also another military road at Fort Augustus, the road heading south east over the Corrieyairack Pass. This mountain road seems to have met the Inverness to Fort William road both north and south of Fort Augustus itself, but without a direct link to the Fort.

The modern junction is on a sharp bend in the A82, just south of the old fort, with the B862 (formerly the A862) forming a triangle on the bend. Directly opposite this, Station Road leads down to the canal bank, and is probably the B848. The old fort, now a select development of flats lies in its grounds adjacent to the junction. A little to the north of the junction, the A82 first crosses the Caledonian Canal, and then the River Oich at Fort Augustus Bridge.

Route	To	Notes
A82	Inbhir Nis / Inverness
A82	An Gearasdan / Fort William	Old Military Road
B862	Earaghaidh / Errogie, Foithir / Foyers (B852)	Old Military Road
B848		Station Road, unsigned
Corrieyairack Pass	Laggan, Speyside	Old Military Road