Scotland Dumfries/Galloway 7stanes blue route recommendations

iancalderbank
iancalderbank Posts: 32
in Routes
Going to be staying in central dumfries/galloway in a week. within reach of Mabie, Ae, Dalbeattie, Kiroughtree, Glentrool, Drumlanrig - but won't have time to try all of them. we are a family with 2 riders who are "good red" and 2 who are "middling blue". So as a group we like Blues that are NOT endless fireroad but have a decent amount of flowy singletrack . We can also do "pale Red" that have minimal/no "hard" techy sections - or if they do, they must have walkaround /alternate routes. One rider has a particular aversion to steep downhills. I've obviously read all the guide books and such but there's no substitute for asking people who have ridden them. Can anyone give me recommendations please?

thanks
Ian
MTB: Giant Trance X2 2009 (yes, its a 26er. For twisty singletrack in woburn woods, it still rocks)
road: specialized tricross elite 2011
hybrid: giant roam 0 2014
garaged project: gt tempest 1998
borrowed: whoosh sirocco cdl e-bike

Comments

  • jpj84
    jpj84 Posts: 51
    Disclaimer - I'm a roadie, and pretty useless off-road...

    We hired mtbs and did the blue trails at Kirroughtree & Glentrool a few years ago.

    Kirroughtree was a bit much for me in places, with a couple of sections I couldn't ride.

    On the other hand, I loved Glentrool, and felt the downhill was really fast and doable (I guess this is a"flowing" descent in mtb terms?).

    Being a roadie, I enjoyed the climbing at both :D
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,144
    What other trails have you ridden and are the sort of thing you're after?
    Might be easier for us to make some suggestions that way.

    I rode drumlanrig a few years ago and it was nice, it's more like a ride in the country than a trail centre. I seem to recall some slippery rooty sections but nothing else difficult. There is some road/fire road on it but not really any more than most trail centres and it's pretty scenic.

    Ae: The red routes have some jumps and drops but otherwise ok as far as I remember. Fair bit of climbing but what goes up must come down. Really hated the place when I went in the wet but loved it in the dry.

    Kirroughtree: Did the black route many years ago (probably not what you're after), so may have changed since then.

    Mabie/dalbeattie: Again many years ago so it may have changed but I'd say the red routes were comparable with red routes elsewhere in the UK. There are some technical bits at dalbeattie but you can get past them.

    Take something for the midges and if you get a puncture don't stop to fix it, run to somewhere windy first.

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