I know i have already asked before but the planning of this trip is a little further down the line now…

I am going to go for a bit of a road trip up the West coast of Scotland with a friend in the last week of September, im very much hoping this cold isnt a sign of things to come…

So far we are planning…

Monday – drive up from borders, possibly time for a short blast at fort william trails.

Tuesday – big ride fort william…where???

Wed – drive to Skye and do short ride… where???

Thurs – Big ride Skye (sligachan loop).. any comments/experiences???

Fri – drive to Torridon and do ride around Ben Damph Forest … Any commets/experience???

Sat – Do big loop from Torridon (annat, bealach na lice, bealach na ban, achnashellach, coulags, bealach choire ghairbh, annat)… any comments experience???

Sun – home, the scenic route

Would anyone be able to help advise on the two routes i am missing at for william and on Skye, for Fort William I was looking at the corryairick pass, anyone have any routes for that or experiences?

I would also be interested to hear if anyone has any other routes that they think would be worth doing as well as or instead of the ones i have… the more epic/remote the better! Anyone have any experience riding in the Loch Marree area???

Thanks in advance

Also for the time of year we are going, will be last week september or first week october. Is there anything we should take into account especially, weather/tempurature/length of daylight etc? Will it be especially affected compared to summer/now.

Loch Maree

Loch Maree is a uber cool place.

Wed – drive to Skye and do short ride… where???

Quiraing, Skye mountain bike loop by ahsatb, on Flickr

Easily the best short ride. Click on the link and there is some instructions under the map.

Thurs – Big ride Skye (sligachan loop).. any comments/experiences???

This is pretty unrelenting – very long, not at all steep singletrack, from Sligachan south that doesnt really have any non rocky parts to give your body a break until you get onto the road at Loch Slapin.

Isle of Skye by ahsatb, on Flickr

We parked at the ferry port at Sconser (rather than at the Sligachan hotel) to give the legs a warm up and came back around Loch Ainot rather than all the way on the A67 as legs were a bit tired and it gave a chance just to spin rather than worrying about the traffic! Awesome ride – would do it again.

We were trashed the next day – you guys are way fitter than me doing that many big loops.

thanks guys, think that Skye route will have to go into the plan, looks great, proper lord of the rings country!

ahsat – do you think that sligachan route is worth it then? Maybe worth chosing something else, on Skye? or if not maybe we would miss out skye and stay on the mainland… any other suggetions for that?

Tuesday – big Fort William ride could be Tour de Ben Nevis. Or something from Kinlochleven.

Friday ride – Ben Damph circuit is good, was very boggy when we did it which made the climb pretty difficult but the descent is fantastic, bit like a combination of the two descents from the Torridon big route.

Personally I like the Sligachan loop but I know others feel there is a little bit too much road and the boggy section between road sections is a bit grim. Some do it as an out and back rather than the full loop.

Looks like you’ve got the basis of a good itinerary though – remember there are man made trails at Laggan and Fort William if the weather is really grim and you don’t fancy an epic.

I was gubbed just doing the Sligachan out and back last week 🙄 ,dont think I could handle the whole the whole loop, I found it pretty relentless and exhausting…but enjoyable 😆 😕

Not really helpful but I walked that Quiraing route in late Feb this year in very low mist. An amazing experience! A stunningly beautiful place.

I wouldn’t do it on a bad day. As you can see from the photo we had nice weather. If you go out you can decide to just go back do or the whole loop. It is really good. We were pretty done in by the end. Its the best Skye epic i think.

+1 Sligachan out and back from the hotel.Technical in parts but all rideable and no climbs but best of all no road and only takes a few hours.The loop has a big stretch of busy ,hilly, twisty 60mph A road with camper vans ,caravans and HGVs etc.Why go to the Highlands with an MTB to ride on an A road in traffic and push through a bog when glorious singletrack with the Cullins for a backdrop awaits? Sligagchan is a good warm up for the Ben Damph loop which is a good warm up for the big Torridon loop.
Don’t know about the riding around around Fort Bill but the Devils staircase,Ciaran Path,Kinlochleven and back to the Devils staircase loop is well worth doing but will take most of the day.

Also for the time of year we are going, will be last week september or first week october. Is there anything we should take into account especially, weather/tempurature/length of daylight etc? Will it be especially affected compared to summer/now.

It’s Scotland FFS prepare for the worst and hope for the best! 🙂