Hiya! I wonder if any of you can advise? My husband and I are looking for good blue runs in Scotland for us to try. I’m a complete newbie and have just bought a new bike which I’m just getting used to, so I’m looking for blue runs which would be suitable for me without giving me the fear! 😉 He’s a bit more accomplished but happy to go at my pace just now.

We’ve been at Glentress, where I only did the green loop a few times as it was my first time on a bike for years. And last weekend I managed the blue run at Ae (went there as I heard it was prob the easiest blue run of the 7Stanes sites) without any difficulty (other than pushing the bike up a bit of the hill at the start. I looked at the 7 Stanes site and saw the blue runs listed in order of difficulty, but after looking online I’ve seen people disagreeing with some of what they have said.

Does anyone know of any routes (even green routes if they’re fun and would be good for my fitness levels) which would be an ideal next step? Doesn’t even have to be a trail centre, just somewhere which would be ok for my level of ability, or I don’t mind a wee bit of a challenge as long as it’s not a huge jump from what I’ve done already. Don’t want to scare myself off! 😀

my wife and i have done some rigourous testing of Scotlands blue trails:

Glentress blue is great.

Newcastleton blue is also very good (Even Consider the Red, it’s quite long, but not quite as strenuous or technical as other reds).

While i haven’t done a complete lap, Kirroughtree blue looked good from the bits and bobs i have ridden.

Dalbeatie is good, perhaps not as swoopy-awesome as Glentress, but it’s got some fun bits, and it’s a good leg-stretcher. There are some mellow rocky bits to spice it up a bit.

Mabie: total carp.

Ae: total carp.

in my humble opinion, Innerleithen needs a blue trail more than it needs a chairlift – 2 blue trails in the tweed valley would be a serious draw for families.

Whereabouts are you?
Glenlivet blue is quite short but fun, and within the capabilities of my 7 year old.
Moray monster trails blues are good and are as short or as long as you want them to be.

Also worth a look is this route guide

Carron valley is pretty much blue now and i think a really good option for beginners . The Glen Loin loop at Arrochar might be worth a go , a fairly long climb to start then a pretty straight forward singletrack section to finish , plus the scenery is lovely .

Carron valley is pretty much blue now

+1 Its a good option if you are near Glasgow or Stirling

But I guess it depends where abouts you are

Glentress, and Kirroughtree are the best of the 7 Stanes blue routes but they are at either end of the country

Glentress Blue would be fine, no features on it that can’t be avoided.

Glen Loin loop as mentioned above has some steep and eroded descents on the singletrack section which would be more akin to red features at a trail centre. Overall though it is a nice loop and great scenery (on a clear day).

my gf enjoyed Glentrool blue, see also marked Forest Drives in area (*cart tracks – car driveable) and you can lap Clatteringshaws (lake, road E, 1st road NE, Southern upland way, S over bridge, road)

see also cycle path next to ‘P’ marked at SW end of loch, heading S never ridden this but on to do for me and GF

Glentress blue’s pretty superb tbh- you can make it harder by riding it faster and taking the harder lines but the straightforward lines are still good fun too. Perfect example of how a trail can grow with you

Just to flag up Comrie Croft nr Crieff for their excellent Blue trail, even some proper Gnarr dudes have been heard to compliment it and my kids love it. Would say I prefer it over GT.

In fact CC allround is a great and at times challenging ride their Black is worth a visit.

The Glen Loin loop at Arrochar might be worth a go , a fairly long climb to start then a pretty straight forward singletrack section to finish

I haven’t been down that singletrack in a year but it was pretty cut up and rough the last time I was. Some big ruts and rocks. Definitely not “blue” graded.

Some of the Blue at Glentress is tougher than reds in other trail centres.

+1 for the Glentrool blue. It’s quite short (done it on my HT in 45 minutes easily) and really a straight up & down run but is great fun. it’s possible to take a short cut back to a large part of the last decent once you’ve ridden it once, if you really enjoyed it (I think you will).

There are also all sorts of ‘off piste’ forest roads, etc around there as well, and the cafe does (or at least did) a really nice hot chocolate.

It’s been a while since I’ve ridden there but IIRC a lot of the Dalbeattie red is very ‘blue’ too and the bits that are red can easily be circumnavigated/walked. Might give you a good idea of what to expect in future as you get more confident too.

Where do you live? Instead of racking up the miles trying to find boring crap trail centre footpaths why not get out in some nice local runs, natural and/or built? It’d be a much more fun, down to earth way to get used to biking and you’ll probably get great views and local pubs to stop at too.

The arrochar run mentioned above is good for beginners as it’s got a mix of everything and is only 12 miles but feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere.

A bit of advice I’d always give beginners is STOP THINKING IN COLOURS! Trail centre riding is only one tiny piece of mountain biking. It’s about being able to explore and challenge yourself in the great scottish countryside.

my kids, aged 8 and 11, rate Comrie Croft as their fave trail. Glentress Blue they both like and the 8 yr old copes ok with it on a 24inch Islabike – there is nothing very technical for basic comeptenence. He does find the climbs hard work but the downs make up for it and he makes a good effort on the easier skinnies 🙂

Thinking about it, the most offputting bits of the blue at Glentress for new riders may well be one or two of the climbs. There’s one climb with a couple of fairly rough switchbacks on it and the last little scrabble up to the top of the blue is fairly steep, albeit very short.

+1 Glentrool

Another big + for Glentress, IMHO it is about as good as it gets. The climb from The Peel to the Buzzards Nest, shared with the red, is a beautifully designed trail. A wee bit of fire road then the crux is the next singletrack climb, a couple of steep/rough/loose switchbacks. A final fire road pull to the “stane” and the fun begins 😀

Despite a reasonable, UK only, spread of experience nowhere gives as big a stupid grin as the return blue at GT. Ridden like a loon, it’s fast, flowy? and an absolute hoot. Was there on Monday with my two lads, in the rain, and it was still fun, fun, fun!

You could try the Callander estate at Falkirk, none of the trails are tricky, even the red stuff is pretty easy, just a bit steeper.

Out of the blues I have done Comrie Croft and the new Nevis Range Blue Adder(?) XC descent are trickier than the likes of Glenlivet and Glentress (only been to GT once and haven’t done all of the blue)

Learnie Red Rock blue is somewhere in the middle, I think. Laggan green is fun as is the orange.

Thanks a million everyone. I’m in Ayrshire, so most of the 7 Stanes are within an hour and a half to two hours away, and prob about an hour and a bit to Carron Valley etc so ideally placed. I’ve been out around here on the bike to a local park with decent wee trails etc but everything is super muddy at the moment and I kept getting stuck! Hehe! I’m going to go out on some beginner rides around here with a local club but just want to get my fitness up and find my confidence a bit before I head out in a group (I don’t want to be the one pushing the bike up a hill out of breath at the back… hehe… although it’s for beginners, the members mostly are all roads cyclists and so are physically fit even if not experienced off road). I feel relatively ‘safe’ at the trail centres at the moment with the colour gradings while I’m finding my feet, but looking forward to finding my own trails once I’m a bit fitter. I didn’t find Ae much more advanced than a green route (although I enjoyed the swoopy bermed section near the top) so I think it was a good one to start with. And even though it was a very wet day there wasn’t much mud and it wasn’t too slipery. I’ll look into all of these places then and see where we should head. Cheers again! Much appreciated!

+1 for Callendar Estate.