A838 road

A838 road in the UK
map
Basic data
Operator:
Start of the street:	Dalchork ( 58 ° 3 ′  N , 4 ° 25 ′  W )
End of street:	Tongue ( 58 ° 29 ′  N , 4 ° 25 ′  W )
Overall length:	134.1 km (83.3  mi )
Countries :	Highland , Scotland
The A838 along Loch Shin with Ben More Assynt in the background
Course of the road Highland Dalchork River Tirry Colaboll River Fiag Allt nan Albannach Kinloch Allt Achad Fairidh Achfary Laxford Bridge River Laxford Achlyness Rhiconich River Rhiconich B801 to Kinlochbervie River Dionard Durness Smoo Allt Smoo ( Smoo Cave ) Leirinmore Portnancon Polla Eriboll Hope Strath More - Altnaharra Melness Kyle of Tongue Tongue  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

The A838 road is an A-road in the Scottish Council Area Highland . It begins north of Lairg and leads through the Northwest Highlands first to the west coast near Kinlochbervie . From there it leads to the Scottish north coast and follows this via Durness to Tongue .

course

With the exception of the short, two-lane sections from Laxford Bridge to Rhiconich and from Hope to Tongue, the A838 is designed as a single track road . It begins about four kilometers north of Lairg on the east bank of Loch Shin at the small settlement Dalchork, where it branches off from the A836 , the direct connection from Lairg to Tongue. The A838 had to be relocated for the first few kilometers after Loch Shin was dammed in the 1950s. Until then, the junction from the A836 was also about one kilometer further south of today's junction. It runs for a good 20 kilometers through largely uninhabited heather and moorland along the east bank of Loch Shin. There are only a few scattered settlements along the road. To the west of Loch Shin, the road, which was previously in a rather flat landscape, is bordered by 700 to 800 meter high mountains.

The A838 along the west bank of Loch Eriboll

The A894 joins the A838 at Laxford Bridge . From here the A838 (like the A894) has two lanes. The north-south connection on the west coast from the direction of Ullapool was expanded in the 1980s to improve the connection to the fishing ports in Lochinver and Kinlochbervie. Kinlochbervie can be reached via the B801 which branches off in Rhiconich. North of this junction, the A838 is again designed as a single track road and runs through largely unpopulated areas of the northern highlands east of Cape Wrath .

South of Durness , the A838 reaches the north coast, which it follows winding along bays, some of which are deeply cut into the land, such as Loch Eriboll to Tongue. Various smaller villages and scattered settlements lie along the road between the two places. To the east of Durness, the road passes Smoo Cave . To the west of Tongue, the road crosses the Kyle of Tongue bay via a dam and a narrow bridge. In Tongue the A838 joins the A836, which leads south to Lairg and east via Thurso to John o 'Groats .

Between Laxford Bridge and Tongue, the A838 is part of the North Coast 500 Holiday Route .

Web links

Commons : A838 road  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The A838 at sabre-roads.org.uk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ northcoast500.com: Route map , accessed on February 27, 2020