7 stanes? Which would you recommend?

DannyMak

I wanted any advice people have about riding the 7 Stanes because I'm in the process of planning a trip to Scotland for a long weekend with 6 mates in November.

Which 3 are the most demanding/ Scary/ All mountain / Single track routes? As we are only there Thursday - Sunday night so doubt we will be able to get round them all.


Any recommendations would be much appreciated

Dan

Stoo61

Stock answer is Glentress and Innerleithen because they are right next to each other. There is also the more wild Minch Moor run at Innerleithen which goes further using old drovers trails etc...wouldnt know how to map it out for you though. Research perhaps.

birchy

For me i would say glentress and innerleithen and you could always go over to Ae on the sunday even though i didn't really rate it apart from last couple of sections (but thats just my opinion)

DannyMak

Yh I thought Glentress looked like a really sweet spot. Has anyone ridden Mabie or Newcastleton?

Sweatyhelmet

Hi,
I was up at the stanes two weeks ago stayed at the mabie house and did mabie, kirroughtree, dalbeattie, then back to kirroughtree as it sat at the top of the tree for me with dalbeattie a very close joint favourite, mabie was very wet and boggy in places as they had 48 hours or so of heavy rain before I arrived, Ae didnt strike me as the others had, with little reward for the climbing involved- see my thoughts on the 7 stanes adventure posting. Hardly anyone at any of the stanes but I was there midweek. the skills area at dalbeattie is mega-probably a days riding there alone. you could also try drumlanrig which are doing two for one addmission prices through october although a couple of locals told me it can get a bit sketchy if theres been lots of rain. Not done glentress yet but locals told me it's on a par with kirroughtree but from my experiences would definetley recommend mabie, dalbeattie (red/black) and kirroughtree (red and black).
If you go to kirroughtree, try the cherry and coconut scones in the cafe. mmmmmm
Enjoy
Sweatyhelmet

Davy-g

if you want downhill action then head to Innerleithen...

for the others I would say, Glentress-Kirroughtree-Ae-Dalbeatie (a lot of fireroad here), Mabie (has the skills area and the Kona dark side)

popstar

Glentress/Innerleithen is the best place for Sunday Warrior action. Kirroughtree Red is dissapointing while Black is something else. But those are your average trail centers. True Scotland is in Highlands, aka Laggan Wolftrax and if you didn't had enough of those awesome techy rock gardens on black graded trails then head to Glencoe. Good base to stay would be an awesome in the middle of everything touristy village Aviemore*.

You may your wish be granted, and get instantly killed by your own fear of awesome riding there, Amen.

CFS

+1 for Laggan, it is awesome. Was a wee bit underwhelmed by Glentress after all the hype but it is still way better than Cwm Carn.

popstar

I would say CwmCarn even only with XC and DH trails is a cracking place to ride. A bit different style to Afan's best offer of Whites+final descent of Skyline but to us Southeners is a place to visit.

You have to admit that -Airstream- trail on top of Twrch trail is absolutely awesome trail with tabletops and berms to play with. Amazing.

97th choice

Kirroughtree is worth a visit, the black runs are great, especially black craigs onwards on the return leg. McMoab is a unique challenge but take it or leave it for some people, at least test your bottle on the chute at the end

Personally I love the kirroughtree reds, very fast and flowing in places, it's a place I don't think I could ever get bored with.

If you go to kirroughtree then you'll have to do mabie, simply because you'll probably pass it on the way there or back, that said last time I was there a fair bit of trail work was ongoing. Less technical than K IMHO but plenty fast and fun.

Bestwuzbest

You lucky duck! Myself and a couple of pals are just back from 5 days riding the Stanes and we had a blast...and not a drop of rain, nor barely a puff o wind.
- GLENTRESS...best centre...brilliant facilities and extremely helpful bike shop...campsite and ubercool timber cabins (very affordable...£50 per nite for 3 peeps) are virtually on the trailhead...we kicked off on the Red as lots of the black was closed...pretty good trail if you ride it fast...last descent is superb...very manicured though...with a lotta families bumbling about. Didn't bother with the Orange freeride park...didn't wana get out-dropped & hopd by the fully-tooled up 10 yr olds of end up eating gravel infront of the on-looking carpark!
- INNERLEITHEN...this was the hi-lite!...best trails/no facilities...we hit it up on a couple of the orange DH trails on the 1st visit...there's a 50/50 push/ride up that's a 30-40 minute bawlbuster to get to the trailheads...Make or Break is a hard surfaced, high speed, jump, drop n berm feast...superb!...The Matador is steeper, gnarlier, tighter and root infested with boulder chutes n mega drops...madness...superb!
On the 2nd visit we headed out on the Red/Black trail...there's at least an hour's climb to begin, but then its almost entirely an hour's descending...finishing with the bottom half of Make or Break...what a brilliant trail...jumps, drops, berms, rock gardens, swooping singletrack...whoever designed the trails here is a genius...right up there with Lagaan Wolftrax.
- AE FOREST...decent trails/decent facilities...a lotta resurfacing has just been done on the Red/Black loop and it really takes away from the experience...a lot of it felt like a quarry dust causeway running through the moors (though it does aid climbing)...the famous Omega Man section and final descent are worth the visit though...the sequence of successive highly sculpted berms is incredible!
- KIRROUGHTREE...great trails/good facilities...had previously ridden the Red so did the Black this time...a monster of a trail...riddled with technical rock sections and twisting singletrack...not many jumps or drops and some killer climbing...and the famous McMoab looms at the halfway point...i couldn't get to grips with it at all...might've been a lack of skills, too big a bike, the knackeredness of 5 days in a row...or a combo of all that...the slab drop at the end of McMoab is really very easy...dunno why so many riders get so intimidated by features like this...mind over matter is all it takes!
The 7 Stanes really deserves its reputation and plaudits...its a fantastic model for how it could & should be done...I live in hope that such a scheme will be adopted in Northern Ireland in the future...though 1 Stane would be a start!!
Anyways, hope that's of some use to you fella...enjoy!

DannyMak

The trips geting really close now, and were still not sure whether to stop with family in Kirkcudbright and ride Kirroughtree, Dalbeattie and at a push Mabie, or B&B in Glentress ride Glentress & Innerleithen?

Is there much single track/ all mountain riding at glentress and Inn' or more just downhill?

Please help me : )

nick1962

For what it's worth I would suggest you relax and just enjoy whichever trails you finally choose-you can and should come back to do the others!!
Trying to do them alll in a mad rush will take away the fun.Plus there will be driving from trail to trail involved and although the distances aren't huge these are not motorway miles and require you to have your wits about you. But if you really want to do the best bits then I don't see any reason why you can't stay in Kirkcudbright.To come to Scotland for the 7 Stanes and not do Glentress would be daft.
Here's my suggestion
If you can make an early start on Friday then it's 2 hour drive to Glentress/innerleithen. Many drive that distance there regularly.It'll be very quiet on a Friday too and you could happily spend all day there.Do the red to the bottom of Spooky Wood then up the push up path to join the black at the Boundary trail.Then follow the black to the end where it rejoins the red. I will happily show you round if you let me know when you'll be there.Has everything,drops,jumps ,technical descents,swooping singletrack. Allow about 4 hours then lunch in the excellent cafe.If you're still up for it then Inners is only a ten minute drive away.The XC route is great and as already said an hour up if you' ve got any life left in your legs and slightly less down ! Great swooping singletrack descent.
Saturday try Kirroughtree red and black ( I second the view on Mc Moab -didn't do it for me either). The best bits IMHO are after McMoab so pace yourself.Allow about 4 hours.Grab some lunch at the cafe on site or the one on the main road.
If you have any energy left then try Dalbeattie less than an hour away.No big ups or downs but pleasant singletrack and all those rocky obstacles you can see on You Tube.Takes about 2 hours and then spend the rest of the day on the various skills bits.
That leaves Sunday morning/early afternoon for Mabie.
Ae and Innerleithen have specific full on downhill runs if that's what you're after in addition to their XC routes.
No reason why you can't swap the suggested itenary around depending on how tired you all are and the vagaries of the infamous Scottish weather.Fingers crossed it stays as fine as it can for you.
Enjoy

Matt_

Kirroughtree is my favourite. Just flows so well.

I liked Glentress but I had a nasty accident on the skills park involving a few stitches to my face and my wrist in a cast amongst other things and haven't been back since.

nick1962

I liked Glentress but I had a nasty accident on the skills park involving a few stitches to my face and my wrist in a cast amongst other things and haven't been back since.

Ouch!
The GT bike park takes no prisoners that's why I leave it to the fearless teens

Matt_

I'll put the pictures on here at some point if there is a forum suitable for it!

pugaltitude

If you are staying in Kirkcudbright, I would do Kirroughtree friday, Dalbeattie sat, mabie sun.
Kirroughtree is 30 mins from Kirkcudbright, Dalbeattie is 15-20 mins and mabie is 40 mins or go Mabie on your way back home(assuming your coming from England or Wales)
Not bad travel times and if its family your staying at its not going to cost you a lot of money. I always think of costs, Im a typical Scotsman!!!
To travel upto glentress in november does not give you a lot of riding time because of the weather and clock change the nights are closing in. You might not get enough time.
But to come to Scotland and not do Glentress is a sin.
Decisions decisions!!

lg18

To answer one of your questions - All the Stanes have wonderful XC single-track (some more technical than others, obviously), not just DH at all. For minimal driving, stick to Dumfries & Galloway Stanes. But since Glen Tress is so good, if you drove the extra to go there, definitely try to do it on the Friday, as it is by far the busiest of the Stanes at weekends. Whatever you choose, you will all have an absolutely fantastic time, it is impossible not to!

Have fun, and do please post back to tell us all how you got on!

Lucy

ceercs

I'd go for GT, Inners and Dalbeattie... 3 great centres with plenty of choice of trails and miles of the best singletrack.

My personal favourite is the Red XC at Inners - It's a long (and technical) climb but well worth it.

I love Laggan and Kirroughtree too but probably too much travelling to try and squeeze in.

Northwind

I always think Innerleithen's a bit overrated. It's very good, don't get me wrong but there's not much variety to it and it's not long. You hear "Glentress is too easy, Innerleithen's a proper trail" but I don't think it's harder than GT red, it's just less varied. Apart from the black options at least. The DH is another story of course.

I'd say innerleithen/glentress just for the volume and variety of trails. But there's a lot to be said for kirroughtree/mabie/ae/dalbeattie/drumlanrig. Drum isn't a stane, it's just better than Ae and Mabie, and nearby. Not done Dalbeattie yet myself. Kirroughtree black is the best trail in the stanes IMO, Mabie is really lovely, Ae is... Well, hard work for what you get, and not as good as its neighbours.

thistle_

DannyMak wrote:

Which 3 are the most demanding/ Scary/ All mountain / Single track routes?

It depends exactly what you mean by demanding.

If you want DH then probably Innerleithen or Ae. Didn't enjoy the red routes there, thought Ae red was pretty boring and it was dark when I did Innerleithen. You could plan out an epic XC ride around the hills from Innerleithen/Selkirk though.

Dalbeattie/Mabie are good fun. I wouldn't call them demanding but thought they were the most enjoyable of the stanes. Kirroughtree black is probably the most demanding 'XC' route as it's quite long and has a couple of really technical bits. Glentress black is similar to Kirroughtree, except the really technical stuff is all towards the end and you can go up the red and down the black to make it shorter.

Newcastleton is worth a visit if you're passing, as it's on the way to Glentress/Innerleithen. The Northshore is good, and the red route is alright.