A83 Road - Route

Route

From Tarbet the A83 runs west across the watershed between Loch Lomond and Loch Long to Arrochar near the head of Loch Long. It then goes round the head of the loch, and along the western shore for a short distance, before turning NW up Glen Croe to the Rest and be thankful viewpoint picnic area (56°13′36″N 4°51′25″W / 56.22667°N 4.85694°W / 56.22667; -4.85694), at the pass through the Arrochar Alps from the shore of Loch Long to that of Loch Fyne. It was near this spot that an RAF Tornado crashed on 2 July 2009.

Rest and be thankful are the words inscribed on a stone near the junction of the A83 and the B828, placed there by soldiers who built the original military road in 1753, now referred to as the Drovers' road. The original stone fell into ruin and was replaced by a commemorative stone at the same site.

The section is so named as the climb out of Glen Croe is so long and steep at the end that it was traditional for travellers to rest at the top, and be thankful for having reached the highest point. The current road no longer keeps to the floor of Glen Croe but steadily climbs across the southern slopes of The Cobbler, on the north side of the Glen, to the highest point of the pass. The westward descent to Loch Fyne is through Glen Kinglas, and from here the A815, the main road to Dunoon and the Cowal peninsula, branches off to the south.

On reaching the shore of Loch Fyne, the main road follows the eastern shore of the loch northwards to its head and then goes south west along the western shore through Inveraray and then on to Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig, where it crosses the entrance to the Crinan Canal.

From Ardrishaig the road continues south to Tarbert, where it crosses over to the western shore of the Kintyre peninsula. In the final section it passes through the villages of Whitehouse, Clachan, Tayinloan, Muasdale and Bellochantuy before finally crossing back to the east of the peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde coast, as it reaches Campbeltown.

  • Glen Croe viewed from Rest and be thankful viewpoint

  • Glen Croe, 18 November 2006

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