Drivelines
Scotland · Southern Uplands/8 min read

The 10 best driving roads in the Southern Uplands.

Scotland’s southern half is often treated as a mere transit corridor on the way to the Highlands. Those who know better turn off the motorway and find some of the quietest, most flowing tarmac in the UK.

By Drivelines·Published 06 May 2026
REGION OVERVIEW

The quiet rhythm of the borders and moors

The Southern Uplands offer a profoundly different driving experience to the jagged drama of the Scottish Highlands. Here, the geography consists of rolling moorlands, deep forested glens, and sweeping valleys that dictate the shape of the tarmac. The roads tend to be older, following ancient drove routes and riverbeds, which results in a natural, unforced rhythm. Without the intense tourist traffic of the north, these roads reward a thoughtful, flowing driving style, allowing you to settle into a cross-country pace that feels wonderfully remote.

Routes mapped
10
Total distance
251km
Avg curve idx
6.7/10
Map of all 10 routes in scotland-southern-uplands
StartEnd
Plan a drive to St Cuthbert Road (B727)
10
B727 · Kirkcudbrightshire · Expert
Mixed widthVaried surface

St Cuthbert Road (B727)

The B727 is a profoundly twisting, technical little lane that strings together the coastal topography. Its exceptionally high curve density means the steering wheel is rarely straight for more than a few seconds. Narrow and challenging, it is a road that forces you to scrub off speed and rely on mechanical grip rather than momentum.

Sightlines are entirely compromised by high hedges in high summer; treat every blind left-hander as if a delivery van is coming the other way.

Distance
17.6km
Drive time
0h 44m
Curve idx
10.0/10
Climb
235m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Tongland Road (A711)
09
A711 · Kirkcudbrightshire · Easy
Dual-trackVaried surface

Tongland Road (A711)

A flowing arterial road near the Solway coast, the A711 provides an easygoing rhythm over varied surfaces. It traces a relatively gentle path through the landscape, linking together small agricultural communities with open, sweeping corners. It’s perfect for a relaxed early evening drive.

Watch for tractors pulling out from blind field gates on the sections approaching Kirkcudbright.

Distance
22.8km
Drive time
0h 30m
Curve idx
5.0/10
Climb
295m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to The Holm (A708)
08
A708 · Selkirkshire · Easy
Dual-trackVaried surface

The Holm (A708)

Shadowing the valley floors and skirting the edges of St Mary's Loch, the A708 is an old-school touring route. The corners are largely long and lazy, opening up magnificent views of the surrounding hillsides. It is not a technical challenge, but a classic scenic drive that flatters a well-sorted chassis.

The loch-side stretches are incredibly popular with motorcyclists on summer weekends, making overtaking difficult.

Distance
28km
Drive time
0h 34m
Curve idx
4.2/10
Climb
733m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Main Street (A702)
07
A702 · Dumfries & Galloway · Expert
Mixed widthVaried surface

Main Street (A702)

The A702 spends most of its 83 miles as an Edinburgh trunk route, but its last dozen miles from Moniaive to St John's Town of Dalry are something else: a two-lane moorland road with no villages, a run of crests and closely spaced bends, and a surface that varies from fresh to patched within a mile. It asks for continuous line-choice and honest reading of blind crests rather than pace, and the reward is a rhythm of corners that rarely lets you settle.

Moniaive is the last village for twelve miles, and the road ends without ceremony on the A713 at Dalry beside the Water of Ken; there is nowhere to stop in between, so fill up and sort the map before you leave Nithsdale.

Distance
14.9km
Drive time
0h 20m
Curve idx
8.4/10
Climb
240m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Penwhapple Bridge (B734)
06
B734 · South Ayrshire · Expert
Mixed widthVaried surface

Penwhapple Bridge (B734)

Tucked away in the Carrick hills, the B734 is a seriously technical route that demands total attention. The tarmac heaves and dives, with blind crests and off-camber bends stringing together relentlessly. It is narrow in places and punishing of sloppy inputs, serving as a genuine test of car control.

Farm traffic leaves a lot of mud on the road here during the harvest season, halving the available grip.

Distance
20.7km
Drive time
0h 32m
Curve idx
9.2/10
Climb
254m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Ayr Street (B729)
05
B729 · Dumfries & Galloway · Expert
Mixed widthSmooth surface

Ayr Street (B729)

Fifteen miles of B729 between Carsphairn and Moniaive, most of it over open moor and through the conifer blocks around Auchenstroan, with the Water of Ken crossed on Smeaton's single-arch bridge about five miles out of Carsphairn. The high corner density comes from the road following the ground closely, and the width keeps changing: two lanes at either end, a long single-track section through the middle, and a run beside Kendoon Loch near the A713. Read well ahead: the surface flatters, the blind crests and the logging traffic do not.

The middle third is proper single track with passing places, not just narrow, and it is timber country, with a forestry haul road coming straight onto the B729 at Auchenstroan.

Distance
24.3km
Drive time
0h 34m
Curve idx
8.1/10
Climb
259m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to North Hermitage Street (B6357)
04
B6357 · Scottish Borders · Easy
Dual-trackSmooth surface

North Hermitage Street (B6357)

The B6357 is Liddesdale's spine: from the border at Kershopefoot, where Kershope Burn meets the Liddel Water, it follows the river north through Newcastleton, a planned weaving village of 1793, then six more miles up the dale to Saughtree and on into Wauchope Forest. Dual-track, mostly well surfaced and 21 miles long, it runs in long open radii rather than technical corners; a road for settled rhythm, with the Kielder turn at Saughtree the only real decision on the way.

The valley floods: Storm Dennis in February 2020 wrecked Dawston Bridge at Saughtree and shut the road for ten weeks that summer. Hermitage Castle, up the B6399 from the Hermitage Water junction, is closed November to March.

Distance
34.3km
Drive time
0h 38m
Curve idx
3.6/10
Climb
752m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Mennock Pass (B797)
03
B797 · Dumfriesshire · Easy
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Mennock Pass (B797)

The B797 climbs the Mennock Water from the A76 to 467 m at Wanlockhead, Scotland's highest village, making it the highest of the three passes over the Lowther Hills. There is nothing in the valley but the road and the burn, and the corners are open, medium-radius and well sighted; the gradient sits at 2 to 3% for the first half and then steps up to around 12% below the village, which is where the sweeping rhythm turns into gradient management. Two-lane but narrow, with plenty of lay-bys.

Sheep own the tarmac above Wanlockhead and there is no street lighting between the villages; gritting is patchier south of Leadhills than on the Abington side, so in a cold snap the Mennock side of the pass is the one that goes first.

Distance
23.3km
Drive time
0h 33m
Curve idx
5.1/10
Climb
487m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Main Street (A714)
02
A714 · Galloway · Expert
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Main Street (A714)

Leaving Girvan at Shallochpark, the A714 turns its back on the coast and works fourteen miles inland to Barrhill through Pinmore and Pinwherry. It carries an unusually dense run of medium-radius bends for a two-lane A-road, on a surface that was relaid at the Girvan end in 2017, and offers very few straights long enough to relax on; it rewards vanishing-point reading and a settled, unhurried rhythm rather than pace.

The B734 that peels off at Pinwherry is too narrow for lorries, so coast-bound HGVs stay on the A714 with you; a Porsche and a Renault met badly near Pinwherry in September 2023, and the driver was charged.

Distance
23.6km
Drive time
0h 27m
Curve idx
8.4/10
Climb
322m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Thomas Telford Road (B709)
01
B709 · Scottish Borders · Easy
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Thomas Telford Road (B709)

Named for the engineer born up the valley at Glendinning in 1757, this is the Eskdale half of Britain's 58-mile B709: out of Langholm along the Esk to Eskdalemuir, past the Samye Ling temple, then over high wet moorland and through the forestry to Ettrick and Tushielaw. The southern section is the fluent part, with open, well-sighted bends through sheep country, while the 16 miles between Eskdalemuir and Ettrick are single track with passing places. It rewards patience and looking a long way ahead rather than steering effort.

Timber lorries work this road and there is no phone signal for long stretches; the sharp left over Eskdalemuir Bridge by the church is where the road changes character, and it is a poor place to break down.

Distance
41.2km
Drive time
0h 51m
Curve idx
5.1/10
Climb
968m
// KEEP READING
Sibling guide · Scenic
Top 10 scenic drives in the Southern Uplands
Parent region · Scotland
Top 10 driving roads in Scotland
Nearby · The Scottish Highlands
Top 10 driving roads in the Scottish Highlands
Nearby · Central Scotland
Top 10 driving roads in central Scotland
Index · Every region
All Top 10 Field Guides

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