Hi All,

My partner and I are off to Fort William next weekend.

We have never been before and would appreciate any advice regarding the trails.

We are not planning of doing the downhill track ( well I’m not anyways as that looks way too much for me) but we are looking at doing the green/blue DH and maybe the red XC depending on the weather.

Thanks in advance

The red downhill course (red giant XC?) is a pretty dark shade of red. There are some quite techy bits on it that you need to commit too. If you are a confident rider it’ll be fine, anyone of a nervous disposition may well not enjoy it. Its a good track with some nice features and worth a go if the sun is out.

From recent experience I’d take a big coolbox full of food to eat, there is only one place worth eating in Fort William, the seafood restaurant.

As for riding, there’s Laggan not far up the road. Some parts of the red downhill would be called black elsewhere in my opinion.

Other trails are fun, certainly not anything that a reasonably confident rider shouldn’t be able to handle. You get plenty of foresight on most of it so you can stop and have a look before heading on down.

Enjoy, hope you get the weather.

The witches trails are well worth a go and the world champs is fun in an all the way up all the way down affair…

They have just finished a couple of new trails at the Nevis Range. The new green and blue descents. The Green is wide and smooth and not particularly interesting, its designed to be ridden by people towing trailers. The blue looks a bit more fun with some jumps built next to the main line.

There are also some new jump lines built next to the bottom of World Cup DH course which are good fun.

The Witches Trail is quite good fun, has some nice bits of singletrack, its not huge though. Don’t bother with the waymarked 10 under the Ben trail, its basically the Witches Trail with 5 miles of fireroad tacked on to give it some length. There is plenty of other stuff in the forest follow your nose.

The Nevis Red downhill is most definitely black rather than red. So its challenging but a very enjoyable trail, if you don’t mind boardwalk and exposed rock you will probably be fine.

So plenty to keep you busy

Some parts of the red would most definitely be black elsewhere. It is much more challenging, due partly to length, than a typical trail-centre red.

Having said that it is brilliant fun. The first time I went a few years ago I was too confident and crocked myself. However I was there again on Saturday and it was ace, although after 4 runs the arm pump got too much.

There are some superb natural trails there, would that be of interest?

There’s a wether spoons in fort William
Foods awreet in there

Foods awreet in there

It’s edible. Just. Fort William is grim for eating out. Even Aviemore is better.

The big hotel on the roundabout is v good for food, and quite reasonable, ate in there last time

There was an Italian place near the car park in town that did some alright pizza from memory. As for riding then, last time I was there all of the 10 under the ben and whitches trail were a bit lackluster. The red uplift is pretty good fun and the world champs course is well worth a crack. Some really fantastic bits in there as well as some really nasty bits but you have to give it a go if you travel up there. Just take your time and if it looks a bit didgy then walk around it. I would say do it in bits, The track is brutal and levels of arm pump are high. Not really worth the trip without giving it a go though. As said above Lagan Wolftrax, absolutely awesome! Very technical in places and just all round excellent. One of the best trail centres I have been to and I’ve been to a fair few.

I thought the Grog and Gruel was all right for some grub.

We were up t’other w/end to walk up the Ben. Went in Grog & Gruel for 2 nights as we had the dog with us and not many places let you in with dogs. Food was good. Ale was decent. Good craic both nights. Would go there again.

I’ve been going to Ft Willy for a million years (ok, since 1976) & It is an actual shithole, The only place I’ve been & had food in to write home about is The Crannog, which was at the time, probably the best meal I’d ever had, but not the cheapest either. you have to look at it’s menu cos it aint ‘ping ping’ stuff, they only have about 5 or 6 choices of mains & starters.
Morrisons for brekkie though.

I’ve not tried Wetherspoons but heard good reports about it for decent scran.

Spin – Member
Foods awreet in there
It’s edible. Just. Fort William is grim for eating out. Even Aviemore is better.

Aviemore is great for eating.

Aslong as the mountain cafe is open.

Or the OBI
Or Pizzariach
Or the Winky
Or the Cairn
or the Rowan Tree
Or the Kitchen in Carrbridge
Or Andersons in the Boat

Hell, even the Tavern is great for a post-ride calorie feast!

Aviemore would be a lovely place to dine if they could only get rid of the locals, or at least some sort of curfew so visitors didn’t have to look at them of an evening.

They’ve tamed the nevis red a little with some key tweaks since it was opened but it’s still more black than red imo. I love it, but it sounds like it might be a bit much…

RichMTB is absolutely spot on with the waymarked 10UTB route, it is awful and gives the race a bad name. But, the start is decent and can be done as an out-and-back from the car park then back up the blue return frinstance and the stuff up the hill like Nessie etc (which is legitimately hard btw) can be built into an expanded lap of the witches trails. I really like the Witches Trails, it’s sort of a trail centre but not quite, I can’t put my finger on why but it just feels right. Especially in the rain.

Fort William itself is a proper armpit but not as bad for food as’s been made out. The chinese is alright too.

All the offmap/”natural” riding I know around there is pretty hard though. There’s a nice loop you can do out the west highland way then back in the military road and round cow hill but I’d bet money there’s better in the area.

MIdges! Lots of them.

Stay away, too many folk visiting Fort William.

The food comment is nonsense. Browns, the Limetree are both better than the Crannog and cheaper. A bit further out try The Pines and Russells at Spean.

The Ben Nevis Bunk House does good rustic pub grub.

The big pub on the roundabout, the West End, it’s where I had my first job 🙂

Moorings hotel is also a nice place for a decent pub meal, and a nice quiet pint with fantastic views. It’s on Neptunes Staircase, which I worth seeing.

Town has been a bit of a dump over the last decade or two (blame the arsehole councillors), but I was back in May and the town seems to have had a really good lift recently.

Definitely spend some time riding Leanachan forest. You can take the (gruelling) zig zags up from the British Alcan, and then drop down into Leanachan.

Devil’s Staircase from Glencoe to Kinlochleven worth considering too.

Then there’s Blarmachfoldach to Kinlochleven along the West Highland Way.

Hope you have a great time.

Food at Fort William? Easy – Ben Nevis Inn. 5-10 mi the drive out if town but it’s an excellent wee place.

I don’t agree that the new Green XC descent (Cat’s eyes) is best for people towing trailers. It is certainly not smooth. You wouldn’t want to take a young child on it unless they were fully in control of their brakes! Compared to other places we have been (all Scotland) the green is more blueish and the Blue Adder is reddish in places.

Both really short compared to the long slog up (especially for wee ones) or the cost of the uplift

I took a trailer down the green. It was tight in places but my boy loved it, although I suspect plenty of small kids wouldn’t. Agree with peabrain about the rest.

It’s interesting that a lot of people consider the green more of a blue, the blue more of a red, and the red more of a black. It’s also interesting that grants/funding were available for green, blue and red runs 🙂

Hi All,

Many thanks for all the responses, especially the ones involving eating. I was a bit concerned as Fort William is in the middle of nowhere. At least I have a few ideas now.

Matt outandabout – I think we will be sticking to the trails as it’s our first time.

So after reading the comments it looks like I should avoid ben under 10 and the Green XC. Has anyone done the blue adder XC

Is it OTT if I take my full face helmet??

fry up in morisons is ok

What’s the cafe like in Nevissport these days?

As for Ft William being in the middle of nowhere, you are looking at it the wrong way round, it’s in the middle of somewhere and places like London are in the middle of nowhere 😆

I’d stick a full face in the car if you have one for the world champs run but probably a bit over the top for the rest. I didn’t have a full face when I went.

Is it OTT if I take my full face helmet??

Not for the uplift routes.

I did the red DH with a normal MTB helmet, but there were plenty of people wearing full face lids, it definitely would be out of place

I stayed/ate at the Nevis Bank Inn once on a work trip up there, and it was not that bad for food.

I’d say a FF would be useful on the WC course, but all the other routes are fine with a standard lid.

stevemuzzy – Member
the world champs is fun in an all the way up all the way down affair…

I thought I’d quite like a pop at that idea on my Soul when I was up watching the DHWC..
What would the danger be of getting in the way of people coming down the other way on DH rigs..?
I’ve only been up when the world cup is on so don’t have any idea how busy it gets the rest of the time

Full face makes sense for the nevis red/red giant too- not because it’s essential but just because there’s not much downside with the uplift.

I always say if you’re comfortable after a few runs on the red then think about the world cup too, it’s harder but it’s not massively harder to take slowly. Even if you just trundle down it once it’s an experience.

The Everest Indian restaurant was great last time I was in.

And comments about the grading at Fort William are slightly off in my books. The problem is that the rest of the cautious UK trail centres grade their stuff way harder than it actually is. So I would say Nevis Range red is a true red, where an intermediate rider can find a lot of challenges, and the black makes even intermediates push their comfort zone to ride properly, best results definitely when ridden by experts.

And I hate myself for using those terms in the first place!

If I was up at Ft Bill for a few days I’d be out riding the ghetto trails that litter the place. They put anything the FC endorses to shame.

yunki – I assume that was a reference to the World Champs loop, which includes some pretty steep and in places tech and twisty climbing, then a rather fun and reasonably long descent. I don’t think riding up the descent half would be much fun even if there was no one coming down it.

Sometimes on weekdays you can be there for a few hours and not see another bike.

Ft Bill is very much in the middle of a very important somewhere- the great outdoors and a host of opporchancities to have fun.
Wetherspoons for breakfast and Everest Indian for evening meal- sorted.
For biking, as above suggestions, plus:
Ride out Glen Nevis and up the WHW by the main track from Braveheart car park and up to the pass by the old fort. The WHW singletrack trail south to Lundavra would qualify as a southern red and rides well in reverse too. Either head north on the road towards town then cut across onto Cow Hill, or double back up WHW from Lundavra. It rides well in both directions. On your return to Braveheart, look for the wee trails dropping into the trees all over the place; alternatively, add in Cow Hill once you get back down to the Braveheart, loop around and again look for wee trails in the trees.

I always say if you’re comfortable after a few runs on the red then think about the world cup too, it’s harder but it’s not massively harder to take slowly. Even if you just trundle down it once it’s an experience.

Good advice – I even found the Red harder in parts as it catches you out if you go too quickly while not knowing the track. The main course is obviously meant to be ridden flat-out so as long as you go with the flow you’ll be fine, don’t worry about not riding a DH bike.
This was in 2011 though so the alterations might differentiate the level of the tracks a bit better now.

Did that Blue DH ever get built?

There’s plenty of great riding at Nevis Range off the beaten track, particularly towards the western, Torlundy side – some of the steepest, muddiest tracks I’ve ridden!

A lad that works there told me recently that a downhill blue is planned, when I don’t know.