Scotland Roadtrip

wardy235
wardy235 Posts: 106
edited July 2017 in MTB general
Hi,

Myself and a mate are doing a Scottish road trip pre Ard Rock and have got a couple of ideas of places to go. Potentially doing the Great Glen Way.

Just wanted to see if there's any places that you guys recommend that we visit and/or avoid.

Thanks,
Joe

Comments

  • DaveTaylor92
    DaveTaylor92 Posts: 3
    Just googled what that is...

    Might be a bit far south but could do some of the 7 Staines? Glentress & Innerleithen for starters?

    Have fun anyway!

    Dave
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    The Great Glen Way is a mixture of Tarmac,Fireroads and a long section alongside the Caledonian Canal.It's not bad but if I did it again it'd be in one go on a CX bike.We did it North to South in 2 days on 130mm FS bikes(in 2004) and the bikes were way overkill.We only took FS as we were doing the West Highland Way straight after but as it turned out FS were also overkill for that too.
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  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,218
    DaveTaylor92 wrote:
    Might be a bit far south but could do some of the 7 Staines? Glentress & Innerleithen for starters?
    7Stanes is an easy trip, but you have to drive around a bit between sites. I did it a few years ago:
    Drive to Innerleithen and stay for a couple of days. Ride Innerleithen on the evening, then ride to Glentress the next day (not far).
    Drive over to Dalbeattie, stopping at Newcastleton and Mabie on the way.
    Stay over in Dalbeattie for 2 nights and ride to the trails in the evening from the town with a day trip (in the car) to Kirroughtree.
    Drive home south, stopping at Ae on the way and Gisburn Forest/Lee Quarry on the way.

    You could add in a few more places if you wanted. I missed out Glentrool because I was told it wasn't worth the trip but I don't know if it's changed since I went (5+ years ago).
  • schmako
    schmako Posts: 1,982
    Kilpatrick Hills (glasgow), 7 stanes (i've been to GT, inners, mabie & ae all great), Nevis Range, Laggan Wolftracks, some good stuff around Aviemore, sure there is decent trails at Dunkeld (never been, planning to get out there at some point).

    Thats a few anyway, if you're passing by well worth a visit.
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  • eric_draven
    eric_draven Posts: 1,192
    Did the Ard Rock a few years ago was going to do it this year but couldn't get an entry sold to quick,go ride some of the lakes not the trail centres there,ard rock is natural trails that are way harder than any trail centre I have rode in the uk
  • veryslowtwitch
    veryslowtwitch Posts: 321
    Seven stanes are excellent centres with a lot of proper singletrack and you could ride two in a day.

    Great Glen way is a great adventure but a completely different proposition and could be done on hardtail or CX bike, but you'll need to work out how to get back to beginning.

    After visiting MTB centres it might be more fun to work out your own 40-50k off-road loops using OS maps. Access code say you can cycle pretty much anywhere on non-urban/agricultural land unless there is stalking. Anything marked as a landrover track is rideable with MTB, some of the single paths may need walked. Stalking advice available online, you don't want to ruin someone else's day or get shot. There are several thousand kms of track to enjoy.

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