The route starts at a T junction on the A72 in Crossford and heads east, quickly going over the River Clyde on the narrow (and rather long) [[Crossford Bridge], which gives priority to eastbound traffic. There is a small estate of houses on the right, before the route enters some woodland and crosses the Mashoch Burn. Leaving the village behind, the route begins to climb out of the Clyde valley, climbing steeply round a series of twisty bends including a near hairpin at a junction. The small Braidwood Burn has cut the steep valley that the road is climbing up, and there are some good views to the south here and there through gaps in the trees. Halfway up the climb, a set of traffic lights are needed to control traffic flow around a series of narrow bends where landslips have been a problem in the past. The route then turns north, emerging from the trees and the gradient eases a little, but the route is still climbing across fields and into the village of Braidwood.
A sharp right turn carries the route over the Braidwood Burn on a narrow bridge and into the village itself, with the route turning back to the left as it climbs Briadwood Road. The houses are stepped up the road, sometimes mid-terrace, before the route finally levels out and passes a small park with a pond. A short straight then leads across a couple of fields to reach the A73. The junction is a left-right staggered crossroads, sitting astride the West Coast Main Line, which passes diagonally underneath. On the far side, there is another gentle climb, past a handful of houses and on, heading northeast across the fields. The route is following Boghall Road along an airy ridge, with Carluke sitting down to the left. Before long, the town comes to meet the road, which skirts the suburb of Crawforddyke before reaching Roadmeetings. The road used to form the boundary of the urban area, but modern housing estates have recently been built on the narrow fields between the road and the Fiddlers Burn, which flows through a slight dip down to the right.
Carluke - Netherton
Boghall Road meets the A721 at Roadmeetings, where the B7056 crosses over at a right-left staggered crossroads. Yieldshields Road continues north east, through a small industrial area and out across fields once more. The small village of Yieldshields is not far away, however, and the route curves gently through, past a small park at a junction. The houses are mostly modern bungalows, spaced out along the roadside with small strips of woodland between some of them. After the village, the route starts to become more winding, with a long double bend past the farms at Highcross. The bends turn the route vaguely eastwards, as it crosses undulating fields, even losing the central white line. A summit of around 278m is reached near Middlehouse Farm, from where the route starts a long gentle descent. After pasing below the grassy dam of Springfield Reservoir - visible through the trees to the left, a sharp right-hand bend turns the route south west and it straightens out again.
A couple of short straights drop the route down to cross the Netherton Burn, and then there's a zigzag past the farm at Westertown. The route comes to an end shortly afterwards at a crossroads on a long straight on the A706.
History
The B7056 and B7039 in 1932
The B7056 was unclassified in 1922 but had gained its number by 1932. However, at that time it only consisted of the section east of the A754 (present A721). The section between the A72 and the A73 had been numbered B7039 for a couple of years before the B7056 came into existence, whilst the rest of the road was not classified until later, first appearing on the 1936 edition of the OS 10 Mile Map. In that year it is assumed that the B7056 took on the whole of its present route. The 1939 Ten-Mile Road Map of Great Britain still marks the B7039 as existing in this area but this is assumed to be a mapping error as it also shows the present route of the B7039 near Selkirk.
