The A838 is a major road in

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

, in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It runs generally northwest from the A836 in the

Lairg Lairg ( gd, An Luirg, meaning "the shank/shin") is a village and parish in Sutherland, Scotland. It has a population of 891 and is at the south-eastern end of Loch Shin. Lairg is unusual in the northern Highlands in being a large settlement tha ...

area to

Laxford Bridge The Laxford Bridge is a stone arch bridge in Sutherland, Scotland which carries the A838 across the River Laxford north to Rhiconich and Durness. The bridge was built about 1834 by the Dukes of Sutherland – the road from Lairg, one of th ...

on the west coast of Scotland, then generally northeast to

Durness Durness ( gd, Diùranais) is a village and civil parish in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland, around north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is ...

on the north coast, and then generally east/southeast to

Tongue The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surfa ...

, where it rejoins the A836. The A836 takes a more direct route from Lairg to Tongue. The A838 has a

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

with two other classified roads, the A894 at

, and the B801 at Rhiconich. Between Lairg and Laxford Bridge the road runs close to five

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

Loch Shin Loch Shin ( gd, Loch Sìn, ) is a loch in the Scottish North West Highlands. To the south is the small town of Lairg. The loch, the largest in Sutherland, runs from the north-west to the south-east and is long. In the 1950s, the level of the loc ...

Loch a' Ghriama ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...

Loch Merkland Loch Merkland is a large long inland loch in Sutherland, Northern Scotland. It is located adjacent to the A838 main road which provides almost all access to the Loch and the Merkland Lodge to the south of it. There are many trails and hiking pa ...

Loch More ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spell ...

and

Loch Stack Loch Stack is a large, irregularly shaped freshwater loch in the Northwest of Scotland. It lies approximately southeast of Laxford Bridge and is surrounded by mountains. Ben Stack rises steeply from the loch's southwestern shore and Arkle (Suthe ...

as well as the coastal inlet of the

Kyle of Durness Kyle of Durness is a coastal inlet on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Sutherland. It extends inland from Balnakeil and divides the Cape Wrath peninsula from the mainland.Groome.F.H (1885) 'Parish of Durness', ''Ordnance Gazetteer ...

. Between Durness and Tongue the road loops south to skirt

Loch Eriboll __NOTOC__ Loch Eriboll (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Euraboil") is a long sea loch on the north coast of Scotland, which has been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firt ...

, and the

Kyle of Tongue Bridge The Kyle of Tongue Bridge is part of the Kyle of Tongue Causeway, which crosses Kyle of Tongue sea loch on the north coast of Scotland. The bridge and causeway were built by Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners in 1971 to carry the A838, the road fr ...

and causeway cross the

Kyle of Tongue The Kyle of Tongue ( gd, Caol Thunga) is a shallow sea loch in northwest Highland, Scotland, in the western part of Sutherland. Featuring a rocky coastline, its mouth is formed at Tongue Bay. The community of Tongue is situated on the Kyle's east ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:8-0838 Roads in Scotland Transport in Highland (council area)