B857 (Lochcarron - Shieldaig)

This article is about the former B857 in Wester Ross.
For the current B857 in Alexandria, see B857.

The former B857 (now A896) crossing the hills

The B857 Originally connected Lochcarron and Shieldaig, before the new roads were built in this part of Wester Ross. It started on the A890 (former B855) in Lochcarron and headed west over the hills to Kishorn, where it turned north, meeting the eastern end of the Bealach na Ba, and continued through the hills to Shieldaig.

In 1962/3 a new road was built along Loch Torridon between the B858 in Torridon itself and Shieldaig, which was bypassed, the new road joining the B857 at the south end of the village, with the old road continuing along the shore. The whole road from Lochcarron to Kinlochewe was then renumbered A896, except for the northern end in Shieldaig which was declassified, and the B857 number was temporarily consigned to the history books. Since it became an A road, some lengthy stretches of the former B857 have been widened, mostly online, but a lot of the route remains single track.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Lochcarron - Shieldaig