I’m due to have a day in Kirroughtree next week as the missus is letting me off the leash.

I’ve read a bit about it such as McMoab and the Twister – what are your personal experiences?

Best trail center EVER!

Loved it.
Would make the 7 HR drive to get there tomorrow if I had the time.

I went on my own on a Friday, it was gorgeous and quiet, everything I want a trail to be.
The shop was open and the staff friendly.
The car park empty and the weather warm. One of my favourite afternoons ever. My only regrets are that I got up late and wasted part of the day and I couldn’t share the day with everyone I know would love it.

Hate the place. Most over-rated trail centre out there.

Superb.
Talnotry Hill, at the top of the black, is one of the best stretches of singletrack i have ever ridden.

Assuming you are doing the black route may I suggest you take your time, save your energy fo the return leg after Heartbreak Hill after McMoab.
McMoab is fun but can sap your energy and give you aches`n pain if you fall 🙄 Tons of stuff on utube and vimoe.
My favourite section is after Heartbreak Hill, Talnoutry and the rest of the trail after that
Mcmoab;




Top of Heartbreak Hill;

If you plan to do the whole of red and black then my advice is to park at Talnotry Hill car park off the Queens highway( the A 712 road).This way after the first steep climb(Heartbreak Hill) you get loads of ace downhill and flowy bits and the cafe and bike shop are part way round if you want refreshments.It’s fair bit longer than other trail centre routes allow 4 hours.
Not a fan of McMoab myself especially if it’s wet but you can just ride round it.

It’s very good. Not difficult- the black’s not very black, it’s on about a level with Glentress. Also quite hard work. But it just flows and flows. And McMoab’s some unique selling point. We’re going back in a couple of weeks, can’t wait!

IT`s ACE! 😆

Some really good flowy bits, bit to much fireroad in in some places. Pretty good trail, but for me its not the best trail, very good, but not the best. IMO

Not technical at all, it’s boring as nothing really happens the whole way around. It’s just one flowy bit after another. The black crags section down to hissing sid is great though. Been there a few times and do not rate it.

it’s boring as nothing really happens the whole way around

What do you expect from a trail centre? You must have such an interesting life 🙄

It’s my favourite of the 7Stanes by a long way.

Can’t wait to get back there soon.

I was really looking forward to it, but preferred Dalbeattie.

It was good, but Dalbeattie was better.

What I like is that all the criticism glentress gets- very smooth, very manmade, not very technical- applies just as much to kirroughtree but it’s cool to like KT and uncool to like GT 😉 But yep, it’s an XC ride, definately not one for the big bikes.

That’s excluding McMoab anyway, McMoab’s mostly not massively technical but it’s constant, and very hard to predict so you’re living on your wits. It’s hard to ride mainly just because it’s so unlike regular mountain biking. And I bloody love it

Ah, thanks lads, it sounds like I’ll have a blast there. Just built up my old Kona Lava Dome at long last so dying to give it a whirl. 8)

So you reckon about 4 hours for the black and red? Sounds good!

Also, sorry to be a pest, but is the skills area any good for a mess about on?

Not really much climbing, couple of short ones, trails are nice and flowy though not much technical stuff. Great on a racy hardtail. Off piste stuff looked good at 10 @ KT.

I don’t understand how you can ‘hate’ Kirroughtree – to me thats like saying you hate biking in the countryside.

Used to love Kiroghtree when it first opened. Went back this year and a left a little dissapointed. Just didn’t seem to flow as well as it did when it opened. Wonder why?

I think its fantastic – singletrack is probably the most interesting of all the 7stanes, some great features. McMoab is very good – any rider from a novice to an expert would find something to enjoy riding it.

Only drawback is that it’s a bit flat – heartbreak hill is not particularly heart-breaking. More than that, though, because the black necessitates quite a bit of fireroad (on the way out particularly), it feels like quite a fragmented route. Like a series of great, isolated bits linked together. Glentress black, say, feels much more joined up and consistent.

I’m on holiday next week near Dalbeattie, so may well venture across.

Also, sorry to be a pest, but is the skills area any good for a mess about on?

skills area is practically non existent, not really worth spending time on…
Kirrie is good if you just want to get out into the country and have a blast… like all trail centers you only get out what you put into your ride out… 🙂

and like the old saying goes “you can’t please all the people all of the time” you will enjoy it that I am sure off…

Thanks davy-g, much appreciated.

Looking forward to getting there now. 🙂

If you enjoy riding singletrack and don’t mind pedalling you’ll love it.

Most people seem to really rate it, but one of my friends hates it and says there are no proper downhills.

For balance…

The first time I went, when I was much fatter, less fit and crapper on a bike I loved it.

Went again back end of last year and I just couldn’t get into it. I think I was expecting massive, flowing descents and there really aren’t any – it’s very contoury and pedally. I was still in my natural ride mindset – eg. massive long climb up, drop saddle, blast down, and that doesn’t work there. I reckon I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn’t kept stopping to drop my saddle at the top of every bit signed as a descent when a) I really didn’t need to and b) it was never long before I had to start pedalling again.

And thus spake the riding Gods of Singletrackworld 😀

Here are my photos from the STW group ride a couple of years ago. There are some little bits of video in there too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157622336609883/

McMoab has 2 chutes, the likes of which I will never ride myself.

Kirroughtree is a trail centre. As far as trail centres go, it is absolutely fabulous. Is is more like a long flowing Red with Black obstacle sections, many of which I can’t ride but obviously some people here do not even notice 🙂

I always start at the cafe, and have some sarnies at McMoab where I watch others do the chutes and things, and then I have to walk up half of Heartbreak Hill. However, that for makes makes for a brillinant second half of the ride, which is the long long long flowy twisty singletrack back to the start.

FWIW I’d like to give it another go in a different mindset, if you go expecting what it actually is I reckon it’s brilliant!

It’s not my cup of tea, I was underwhelmed after all the good reviews.

Lots of corners, some not too diff rocky obstacles, then more corners. More rocky stuff, more corners. And more corners.

My theory is that people like it as not too climby, more uppy downy thus the climbing v descending equation is kinder to the average rider. And it seems longer because of all the corners.

If you like big ups and big techy downs and hate pointless corners then might not be for you.

Having said that, the SXC courses have been on some nice natural rooty stuff so the trails are there if you know where to look.

It sounds good, I like a bit of pedalling and going around corners too. 😀

Seriously, it sounds like it’ll be fun, like I said, I’m only being let off the leash for a day, so have to make the most of it and it’s near to the girlfriend’s parents house.

It sounds ideal for an old steel Kona too.

8)

went last year and loved it.. some fun bits of flowly singletrack, just a days good riding basically! especially the bit after heartbreak hill.. black craig i think..

ill be back again later on this year 😀

Mixed feelings. When I was first getting back into biking about 3 or 4 years ago, I thought it was fantastic.
…but, returning for the first time last winter, with a bigger bouncier bike and I guess having become accustomed to Lakes/Peaks descents, I was not as “blown away” as I was first time. Yes, its still my favourite trail centre only now there’s a “but”…

And yes, McMoab is still quite a novelty and worth stopping to play on for a bit. Go and then make up your own mind.

Kirrie is my local route….. what day/time were you planning on heading there?, I could meet up with ya and take you round the black route if you wanted…

Hiya davy-g, not sure what day as of yet as the lass is sorting things out. I’m not under the thumb, honest! 😉

I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, thanks for the offer mate!

Hiya davy-g, not sure what day as of yet as the lass is sorting things out. I’m not under the thumb, honest!

aye, right….whatever… 🙂 😉 that is my line also… 😈

I am not an XC Whippet though, I prefer to take it easy when I can, that way the Black route is not so demanding on you.

My mate does the black route on his steel Kona hard tail, but he is more machine than human…

It’s just one flowy bit after another.

Which is why we like it…

Trekster> a reflecter? On your pedal?

Puuuurlease! 🙄

I really like it. The flowing singletrack really appeals to me. It rarely dumps you from a non-technical section into a technical section without some clue that it’s going to do so. I like this as it allows me to get my mind into gear before I have to deal with a big rock feature, even if it isn’t a particularly “natural ride” thing to do. 🙂

It’s worth emphasising that McMoab is just one small bit of the black route and isn’t like the rest of it at all. It can be easily skipped in its entirety or you could spend almost as much time there as you do on the rest of the ride. The area McMoab covers is tiny but it is a proper workout.

While according to the stats it’s a similar sort of length to the GT black, I find that the Kirroughtree black always seems to take longer and uses more energy (that may be due to McMoab). Maybe just because I’m always riding it in fairly large groups, perhaps. Anyway, take a reasonable amount of trail snacks with you.

The skills loop is small and is a bit different to the one at Glentress. It does give you a taster of what you’re going to see out on the various grades of trails, though.

Trekster> a reflecter? On your pedal?

That ain’t no Trekster 🙂

But so what – reflectors are super cool and help make you visible to traffic at night 8)

Why would traffic be On the trails at night?

And I was talking to Trekster 🙄

I don’t like it. It broke my rib.

was down at Kirrie today… trails were riding sweet, and also it was extremely busy… 8)