I have recently moved to Benderloch and I am in the hunt for some good tracks, Can anyone help me out?

cheers

Weird, you’re not the only one moving there! See this thread.

Benderloch is a bit sort of ‘make-your-own-adventure’ style now, Beinn Lora has the remnants of some steep and rooty downhill trails, but lots of foresting operations and blow down has kind of obliterated most of them.

There is a big forest road loop nearby in Barcaldine Forest. The North Argyll Cycle Club then built some really cool singletrack connector trails between forest road sections. If you spent long enough exploring you’d find one or two of them, but your best bet might be to contact the NACC.

The area is crying out for some more trailbuilding, lots of unloved forestry areas with nice gradients that could be made into some great trails, just a shame I’m unlikely to be living back there any time soon 🙁

Cheers for that. Been round southerns grove a few times and seen a nice bit of singletrack but is ruined with tree fell. I might go on the hunt for the tracks up Beinn Lora. Where will I find them?

Tricky, there’s been so much felling up there I’m not even sure what slopes still have trees!

The most intact trails that were still there were on your left as you enter the forest. I’d almost suggest exploring without your bike the first time. Go in, turn left and follow the flat path behind the houses until you see a painted wooden barrier in the trees on your right hand side. This marks the bottom of the trails. If you go up into the trees traversing right you’ll find some very old wooden berms that I built years ago that led to a steep twisty rooty trail further up. Its at this point the blowdown starts so I’m not sure what state the trail is in, it certainly wasn’t rideable when I last visited.

If you carry on further up the footpath you’ll get to a 3-way junction, left takes you uphill, right is flat and gradually downhill. If you go left, you’ll soon reach a grassy little viewpoint on your right hand side with a bench. There is a short but very nice little trail starting in the ferns on your right. Slightly further up the hill on your left you’ll see a trail coming out of the trees. I think it got snagged with blowdown too but if you follow it you’ll see a couple of lines coming from further up. If in any doubt just follow the forest path up the hill till you reach the turn-off for ‘Eagles Eyrie’. You will have passed a small gravel pit which marks the sort of start of the trails.

Going downhill from eagle’s eyrie, there’s one sharp right hand corner which comes out of the trees, on the left hand side you will see an old trail heading left which leads to another decent length downhill trail, not sure what state its in but it is potentially the longest intact run left on the hill.

There’s two local guys still riding and building, both live in the little circular scheme (Ceum Dhun Righ) just past the petrol station. I know Mike (rides a bright orange Cove) has been doing a lot of building but I think his longest trails are closer to Oban. I hear there’s good stuff in Duror as well.

Cheers for that, that’s where I’m living.