The A835 turns north through the Strathgarve and Garbat Forests, then turns again to the north-west and climbs to the Glascarnoch Dam of Loch Glascarnoch. The road then passes through Dirrie More, a high and wide mountain pass at 279m asl between Sgurr Mòr (Fannichs) and Beinn Dearg, before descending to Braemore Junction where the A832 returns after making a vast circuit around the mountains of Wester Ross and across to the west coast at Gairloch.
The A835 is one of several trunk routes in Scotland where bilingual road signs (in English and Gaelic) are in use.[2]
The A835 formerly commenced at Garve, where the A832 now branches off west.[3] On completion in the 1970s of the new road system from the Kessock Bridge across the Black Isle, including a spur from Tore to cross the R Conon at Maryburgh and continue past Brahan to join the old A832 before Contin, the entire route from Tore to Garve was designated A835, including the former A832 between Contin and Garve. This creates in effect an Inverness-Ullapool trunk road, Ullapool being the ferry terminal for Stornoway. However, it leaves the A832 falling into two widely separated parts, with the resulting illogicality aggravated by the eastern half (Cromarty-Fortrose-Muir of Ord-Contin) intersecting the A9/A835 at Tore.
