Oban to Tyndrum
Approximate distance: 36.2 miles
 About 4km/2.5
miles northeast of Oban is Dunbeg with the first point of interest,
Dunstaffnage Castle, to the north. The castle stands on a rocky promontory in the Firth of Lorn
guarding the entry to Loch Etive and the Pass of Brander;
the Lordship of Lorne was held by the MacDougalls of
Dunstaffnage until they were defeated there by Robert the Bruce in 1309.
 Continuing east on the A85 the next stop
is Connel at the point where Loch Etive joins the Firth of Lorn. The A828 crosses the
Connel Bridge and offers an alternative route to
Fort William, joining the A82
at Ballachulish.
To the east
of the bridge are the Falls of Lora – a
two way waterfall at the point where the loch meets the sea. At
low tide the water flows from into the loch while, at high tide,
this flow is reversed. The best place to view this natural phenomenon is
from the bridge itself.
 
 Returning to the A85, which now runs
along the southern side of Loch Etive, the next stop is the Bonawe Iron Furnace,
just north of Taynuilt. To the east of Taynuilt the B8045 heads southeast to
North Port on the western side of Loch Awe.
The A85 continues its journey east,
heading away from Loch Etive through the Pass of Brander, following
the River Awe, which flows from Loch Awe into Loch Etive. Ben Cruachan now rises
up on the northern side of the road as the river widens into Loch Awe itself.
 On the loch
side of the road is the Cruachan Power Station - or at least the visitor
centre as the power station is actually inside Ben Cruachan itself, which is
also referred to as the Hollow Mountain!
Just past the tip of Loch Awe the A819 heads southwest alongside the loch
passing Kilchurn Castle and heads south,
following the route of the River Aray through the glen of the same name, to
Inveraray, where the river flows into Loch Fyne.
Kilchurn Castle was
damaged in 1879 during the same storm that caused the Tay Bridge disaster.
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