It's came to that time of year when forest harvesting operations are coming to the fore and this year it's Dalbeattie thats being affected!! The Town Wood Thinning operation is about to start on Monday the 9th November and will effectively last until early January. Hopefully the bike trails won't be affected for the whole time, due to the kind guys in harvesting agreeing to work a "rolling" system where the works will only be concentrated on a small area at any one time.

Unfortunately, the first coups to be thinned are close to the Richorn trail head, and due to the proximity to the Green cycle route on both the outward and return legs, the FC are left with no other option than to close the green route for approximately the first 3 weeks of the operation. However, both the green routes at Mabie and Ae are currently fully open and are a great alternative!

The Red and Blue routes will also be affected and a diversion will be in place from post 83 (the entrance into Volunteer Ridge) right back to the trailhead. This diversion will pass through private land and is only available to us through the kind permission of the Wilson Bros at Dalbeattie Forest Lodges, and without which we would have had to look at closures on these routes as well, so a big thank you to them!!

Currently there are also diversions in place at post 31 on the blue route and at post 36 (Road to Nowhere) on the red to allow for a seperate harvesting operation to take place.

Please obey and follow the diversions, harvesting sites are potentially very dangerous to members of the public and operators take a very dim view to being interupted by a gang of rebel mountain bikers!! Plus, the less hassle they get, the quicker they get finished and the sooner we can get everything back to normal!!

Up to date info will be available on the 7 Stanes web pages (www.7stanes.gov.uk) and also the 7 Stanes blog and Twitter sites. If you have any questions then please feel free to use the contact us section on the 7 Stanes website.

Thank you!

FC Ranger

Great to see some proper advance warning; kutgw!

Dalbeattie diversions

Good job I know my way around 😆

FCRanger….Fancy coming for a ride next Sat, D`beattie
next sat ride

Trekster – you around Monday? Going to Dalbeattie

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

What time ❓

Might need a lift 🙂

Heading up from Penrith at 10 (wont be a fast ride though!)

Heading up from Penrith at 10 (wont be a fast ride though!)

I can do slow 😉

Is that leaving Penrith @ 10?

Got room for another?

If so I can arrange to meet you on the way through Dumfries @ 11.30ish.

Diane..do you post on bikemagic?

Trekster – yes can give you a lift. My son and his friend are coming too. Leaving Penrith at 10. Will post my mobile no on Facebook for you. Cheers 🙂

Magic

Reply sent
Will txt as soon as my phone has been resuscitated 🙂
I have secured the car btw 🙂

Just a quick update on the Dalbeattie Diversions. The txt was taken from the 7 Stanes website.

"Due to harvesting operations the Dalbeattie trails shall be
subject to rolling diversions, possibly until Christmas. Please follow
and obey all the signs and diversions that are in place.

The Green Ironharsh Trail IS CURRENTLY CLOSED. This should last
approximately 3-4 wks.

The Blue Taster Loop IS CURRENTLY CLOSED whilst the harvesting operations take place.

The Blue Moyle Hill Trail has two diversions in place:

It will be diverted from post 24, heading towards the Plantain Loch
before turning right and heading towards post 83. Riders should then
turn right and follow the diversion through the field and past the
Dalbeattie Forest Lodges, before returning to the Richorn Trailhead.
This diversion should last approximately 3-4 wks.

It is also diverted at post 31, round the forest road up to post 38
where it rejoins the blue trail. This diversion should last until the new year.

The Red Hardrock Trail also has two diversions in place:

It is diverted just before post 76, immediately after Log on Log Off.
Follow the forest road round towards post 83. Riders should then turn
right and follow the Diversion through the field and past the Dalbeattie
Forest Lodges, before returning to the Richorn Trailhead. This
diversion should last approximately 3-4 weeks.

There is also a diversion at post 36 (just before The Road to Nowhere)
down the forest road and rejoins the trail at post 40. This Diversion
should last until the new year."

The harvesting operation seems to be going well, and a big thank you to those of you who have read the signs and followed the diversions! Please do not just push past and enter an active harvesting site, they really are not safe places for members of the public to be in!! Plus, if the harvester operator has to stop and wait for a group of bikers to push their bikes over logs and brash mats, the longer the whole job will take and the grumpier he will get!! Even night riding, you just don't know whats on the ground, logs, brash, crossing points are all able to catch somebody out!

There will be up to date info posted regularly on the 7 Stanes website http://www.7stanes.gov.uk

Trekster, I'm road biking on sat morning but will be about Dalbeattie later in the afternoon! If I don't see you enjoy your run round!

Thanks again

FC Ranger

Cheers FCRanger
Probably heading out to Portling/Castle Point if the weather is not too bad.

Hey,

Just to let everyone know that as of Monday 30th November, until Monday 7th December, ALL MOUNTAINBIKE TRAILS AT DALBEATTIE WILL BE CLOSED!!! This is due to the harvesting operation that is taking place in and around the Town wood. Please do not enter the harvesting site, its only for a week and this will hopefully also give us enough time to fix the patches in the harvested areas as well!

The Galloway Hills Rally also goes through Dalbeatie forest on Sunday 6th of December, so the forest is closed to all forest users that day as well! Not so bad that its all happening at once, means less disruption for bikers!!

Mabie and Ae are both still open the week that Dalbeattie is closed, so offer good local alternatives!!

Cheers

FCRanger

Thanks for the post, shall get my Dalbeattie fix this Saturday then 🙂

Just to let you all know that ALL THE DALBEATTIE TRAILS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED!!!

Hopefully it should only be for a week, just until the harvesting operations get tidied up next to the trailhead. Mabie and Ae are both open and are good alternatives!

Hope this doesn't cause too much inconvience!!

FCRanger

Cheers FC

Any up-dates on trail conditions, trail maint @ Mabie & Ae?
Good volunteer session @ Ae on Sat I heard.