Ok so I know there have been recent threads on trail centers that can be acessed by train , but what would be the best scottish naturals that are close to train stations. Im a Scotrail driver and get free travel so why not take advantage and possibly get a pint or two then head home. Any Ideas , preferably from Perth or Stirling and below. ?

Ben Alder circuit from Dalwhinnie Station. I’ll dig out a map in a minute or two.

Im a Scotrail driver and get free travel so why not take advantage and possibly get a pint or two then head home

…as long as you’re not driving the train ;o)

Here we go:

BenAlderCircuit1 by stuartie_c, on Flickr

Dunkeld & Birnam for Craigvinean, Glengarr & Loch Ordie
Blair Atholl for Glentilt
Aviemore for Burma Road and about a million others
…..

Could do a Corrour to Dalwhinnie route up Ben Alder maybe. Not sure on the uisge labhair path – have it in my head that it’s rough. Overall though seems like it would be a superb ride.

All the Stirling stuff is easily accessed by train … especially Bridge Of Allan

Many thanks folks , I drove up to Perth today via Fife and spotted the big forest to the left and im pretty sure It’s Pitmedden . Though the closest station is probably Ladybank so probably a non starter. I’ll definately investigate some of the offerings.

Not much from Perth. Ochils from Stirling could keep you reasonably busy for a day. Blair Athol and Aviemore would be fairly obvious choices, Dalwhinnie for both sides of the A9. Loads of challenging point to point stuff possible inside Orchy, Corrour, Tulloch, FW etc but the real drawback is the complete inflexibility of the system (numerically in terms of spaces and the need to book) Lot of untapped mtb tourism potential in the Highland train network imo…

Blairadam to left Pitmedden to right. Both good but not exactly out there…

I’m heading up to aviemore at the beginning of august hopefully for a couple of days then heading up to golspie, all by train.

Routes earmarked in aviemore so far are 2 out of, the burma road, a loop round ryvoan pass(possibly seeing if i can find these badaguish trails that no-one seems to want to talk about), out and back to loch einich via loch eileen loop (though i think there is a river crossing before i can get up to loch einich that may be problematic), or maybe an out and back to see how far up the larig ghru i can get before i decide it’s too rocky.. though in saying that, i can see me just going up here and following my nose where ever it takes me.

AS they said blair athol for glen tilt and dalwinnie for ben alder.

I have walked corrour to dalwhinnie – it would be an epic cycle but a great ride

Achnashellach Station, you’ve got all the Torridon trails on the doorstep of the station 🙂

I have done corour station to dalwhinnie as part of a longer day out. The uisige lab hair is hike a bike but defo worth it for the descent of the bealach dubh to culra bothy, I did this about a month ago in good weather and loved it.

Achnashellach Station

We have a winner. From there, along the road, then turn right up past Coulags bothy. Descend to Annat, lunch at the Torridon inn, then back up the trail you came down, but head left at the top, and head down the Coire Lair descent, back to Achnashellach for tea and scones in the wee house at the bottom.

Coire Lair descent is amazing.

Bump this one because I fancy the Corrour to Dalwhinnie route later this month. Heather Bash mentioned inflexibility on the trains – how inflexible are we talking about here? Like if you miss your train they’ll not let the bike on?

The Corrour route actually looks a wee bit on the short side if anything, even taking into account the misery potential of a wet Uisige. So it would be good to lengthen it a bit either end. Knowing if you absolutely have to make the booked train would help plan.

I have rarely had an issue with bikes on trains. scotrail have told the guards not to refuse bikes at all even if the spaces are full but that is unrealistic. West coast only has 4 or 6 bike spaces and only 3 trains a day – so booking really is worthwhile. Lots of folks take bikes on them so lots of competition. east coast although there are fewer bike spaces on each train there are more trains a day and less competition for the spaces. I’d be happy to book on the way up on the west coast and book a return train but I wouldn’t worry too much if I missed the train I had booked for. it is a gamble tho

Stuart did you do that clockwise or the other way???

Its anticlockwise

It will have been anticlockwise for a certainty. Not a ride that makes much sense clockwise.

okay thanks it looks a good old day out