The A897 single track road

Single track road

A single-track road or one-lane road is a road that permits two-way travel but is not wide enough in most places to allow vehicles to pass one another . This kind of road is common in rural areas across the United Kingdom and elsewhere...

 is entirely within the Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

 council area of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It runs generally north from the A9 at Helmsdale

Helmsdale

Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances....

 to the A836

A836 road

The A836 road is entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, and 129 miles long.It branches from the A9 near Tain and runs generally north through Bonar Bridge and Lairg, until Tongue. Between Lairg and Tongue the road is single track for 38 miles...

 near Halladale Bridge, east of Melvich

Melvich

Melvich is a village in the county of Sutherland on the North Coast of Scotland, situated on the A836 road, near the mouth of the River Halladale. It has a successful Gaelic choir.-External links: Ordnance Survey Grid reference for Melvich...

. The road passes through or near Kildonan, Kinbrace and Forsinard

Forsinard

Forsinard is a hamlet in the county of Sutherland in the Highland area of Scotland. It is located on the A897 road in Strath Halladale. It is served by a hotel and railway station on the Far North Line....

, and has a junction with the B871 at Kinbrace. It also passes through Achiemore

Achiemore, Strath Halladale

Achiemore is a hamlet in Strath Halladale in Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. Achiemore is situated to the north of Smigel Burn on the right bank of the Halladale River just beyond where the Allt an Tigh-choinneirnh flows and Upper Bighouse...

.

Helmsdale is on the east-facing North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 coast

Coast

A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...

 of Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. Melvich is about 40 miles (64 km) away, on the north-facing Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 coast. Apart from half a mile (1 km) or so within Helmsdale, the entire road is single track

Single track road

A single-track road or one-lane road is a road that permits two-way travel but is not wide enough in most places to allow vehicles to pass one another . This kind of road is common in rural areas across the United Kingdom and elsewhere...

.

Between Helmsdale and Kinbrace the road is in Strath Ullie (known also as Strath of Kildonan). The River Ullie (known also as the River Helmsdale) reaches the sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

 at Helmsdale. Between Forsinard and Halladale Bridge the road is in Strath Halladale. The River Halladale reaches the sea near Melvich.