A9 north of Inverness?????????

rob39

Hi all
Planning a wee trip from Gretna to John o groats over 4 days. Anyone know what the A9 is like north of Inverness?

Guanajuato

Not all that bike-friendly. The first few miles is dual carriageway without hard shoulder, then its still a fast and fairly narrow road. As an alternative, head out of Inverness to Beauly then to Dingwall, then the old from A9 (now B9167)from Alness up to Dornoch, then follow NCN1/A836 northwards to Tongue then turn right towards Thurso. If you do insist on the A9, there's a couple of nasty climbs along the coast (Helmsdale & Berriedale). NCN1 is a better bet that roughly follows some of it.

pdstsp

I used it on my LEJoG and found it not so bad. However we went across the Black Isle to Cromarty and took the ferry across to Nigg and then joined the A9 near Tain so we may have missed the worst bit. Views were good at times as the road follows the coast and Berriedale is certainly a sting in the tail! Under advice from our B&B owner in Helmsdale we rode the old road at Helmsdale and avoided the worst part of the climb.

martincroxall

My experience is a bit out of date (about 8 years or so) but from what I remember once you're 20-30 miles north of Inverness the A9 gets pretty quiet. Certainly compared to any English A roads it's a dream other than the Helmsdale climb but that's pretty manageable really. If (when) I do it again I'll take the Black Isle and ferry option as it looks a lot more picturesque and you cut out that first section.

navrig2

I'd describe it as horrible as far as cycling is concerned but keep in mind everything is relative. For someone used to central London it will be quiet.

I'd consider an alternative route with a longer ride. This would be much nicer:

http://goo.gl/maps/kizrS