It starts at a junction on the A82 north of Fort William and immediately crosses the River Lochy over the Victoria Bridge.

The road passes through several small settlements, including Corpach, Glenfinnan and Arisaig and bypasses the village of Morar.

[1][2][3] The road ends at the quayside in the port of Mallaig adjacent to the railway station with onward ferry services to the isles of Muck, Eigg, Rùm, Canna, Skye and South Uist, and a ferry across to the neighbouring peninsula at Inverie which although on the mainland has no other road access.

In 1803, Thomas Telford campaigned for government funding to build a "Parliamentary Road" across the estate from Banavie and Corpach towards Arisaig.

[8] The poor quality of the A830 enabled the West Highland Line to remain open; it was marked for closure in the Beeching Report but this was not done because it was impractical to run a replacement bus service along the parallel road.

[9] In August 1991, a group of protestors, organised by a local councillor, blockaded the road as a protest over lack of improvements.

[11] In April 2009, the final single-track section of A830 between Arisaig and Lochailort (the only such example left on a British trunk road) was bypassed by a modern replacement as part of a £23.4m upgrade.