Northern Scotland

Stoo61

I'm trying to look into a nice loop which would be around 80-100 miles, preferably mostly off road to be completed over a couple of days with a camping stop or perhaps a bothie or cheap guest house more or less half way.

Very vague request but does anyone have any stand out thoughts?

Broonster

Stoo61 wrote:

I'm trying to look into a nice loop which would be around 80-100 miles, preferably mostly off road to be completed over a couple of days with a camping stop or perhaps a bothie or cheap guest house more or less half way.

Very vague request but does anyone have any stand out thoughts?

The coast to coast route between Ullapool and (I think) Bonnar Bridge maybe?

Stoo61

Anyone got any experience of an off road road between Laggan Wolftrax and Aviemore? Macadventures do this stage as part of their coast to coast route.

Wildhighlander

There's a 70km loop around Fort William - Kinlochleven - Spean Bridge - Fort W with a bothy at Meannanach roughly half way round, which is about 95% off road. A bit shorter than you asked for but it would give you time to play at Aonach Mor !

Another that springs to mind is going round the Cairngorms, taking in Aviemore, Kingussie, Gaick Pass, Blair Atholl, through Glen Tilt and Linn of Dee to Braemar and Tomintoul before turning back to Aviemore again. I reckon this is more like 200km, but again, would be pretty much all off road.

Stoo61

Wildhighlander wrote:

There's a 70km loop around Fort William - Kinlochleven - Spean Bridge - Fort W with a bothy at Meannanach roughly half way round, which is about 95% off road. A bit shorter than you asked for but it would give you time to play at Aonach Mor !

Another that springs to mind is going round the Cairngorms, taking in Aviemore, Kingussie, Gaick Pass, Blair Atholl, through Glen Tilt and Linn of Dee to Braemar and Tomintoul before turning back to Aviemore again. I reckon this is more like 200km, but again, would be pretty much all off road.

These sound about right, the first one sounds the best for now I would say. Any chance you have either of these already mapped out on some online OS map?

Do you know if the routes are techinically on the OS maps if I get the right area? Also, which OS map would I be looking for?

Wildhighlander

Im afraid I don't have these on any maps that I could easily get to you online - sorry !

I got them both from a guide book I've used over the years for several good routes. It's called 'Scotland Mountain Biking - The Wild Trails' by Phil McKane. I see it's on Amazon for £8.32 !

It is an excellent book, plenty of good routes, with good detail on each, and has the routes drawn out on O.S. Landrangers as well - so you don't need to buy the maps for the route. I've also just noticed that it details another 70km loop around Ben Avon which might interest you as well. Only issue you might have with it is the Cairngorm route is so long the scale of the maps has been reduced so much you might have to buy them in any case.

The Fort William one fits nicely into the middle of Landranger 41, with the Cairngorm route sprawling it's way across 35, 36, 42 & 43.

Stoo61

Have you done these routes then? What are they like?

You are a star mate. Thanks very much. Will probably buy up that book. Don't stray too far I may need you again

Wildhighlander

I've done the majority of the Fort William loop, but not in one go - just picked up parts of it while doing other routes.
Fort W to Kinlochleven is on the West Highland Way, so you're on firetrack through the forest in Glen Nevis, then into some excellent singletrack, before breaking out of the trees onto a mix of Landrover track and singletrack towards Kinlochleven. The first time I did this I managed to pick a day when there was some kind of sponsored walk on from Fort W to Glasgow, so it was me, my mates and 900 walkers :shock: The route was good enough to make me go back on a quieter day though, and it was well worth it.
From Kinlochleven to the bothy at Meannanach it's LRT all the way - not challenging but it's just as well as you'll want to spend all your time looking around you at the scenery and not the path.
The bit I haven't done is from the bothy to Spean, which I'd bet is the best bit of this particular route. Basically you've got a singletrack from here all the way to Leanachan Forest above Spean Bridge. I've looked at the climb ( you're going to have to get off and push here ) longingly from the bothy knowing that there is a 12km singletrack descent from the high point down the other side and out to the forest above Spean.
From Spean back to Fort W is a mix of firetrack / singletrack all the way, nice and easy, but again the scenery makes up for it. If you've just done the whole loop at this point you'll probably be glad for the easy finish.

I've only done a little bit of the Cairngorm route, as part of the multitude of options you have when cycling around Aviemore. This is all on a mix of singletrack, landrover track or designated cross country trails. All good. Fortunately for me this part of the world is 30 minutes away in a car so I can easily pop down for a day and go for a blast ( Ryvoan Bothy - Rothiemurchus - Glen Feshie etc.) The route through Gaick Pass does involve a few miles on tarmac in Glen Tromie, but it's a singletrack road to a dead end so it is pretty quiet. The high point through the pass is singletrack along the side of Loch an Dun, with landrover track either side, all of which is perfectly rideable.

Happy to help

Stoo61

Cheers!!

Dont know if you know it but this website might interest you. http://www.bikehike.co.uk
Here you can map out and save routes via google maps and OS maps. Just bought the Wild Trails book from Amazon, thanks for the heads up.