Thanks to the people who posted on these 2 threads, paparticulaly Trekster who really enthused at great length...
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mabie-dalbeattie-and-kirroughtree-reds-relative-difficuilty ]trail advice thread[/url]
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dalbeattie-area-for-a-family-holiday ]advice about the area[/url]
I road the reds at Mabie and Kirroughtree with 3 kids (14, 12, 11) the youngest did half the red at Dalbeattie before escaping back to Sanyhills with her mum, who was on a co-ordinnated dog walk
Their skills and convidence moved on and they didn't give me too many heart stopping moments. Mabie was great, Kirroughtree was harder but loved by 12 and 14 year old. Dalbeattie even on the red was harder and led to some frutration
Here is a video of some slowish but cheerful cycling at Dalbeattie. Best bit is 14 year olds calm controlled descent of Jacobs ladder
video embed fail
I'll try again later
Cheers. Glad you and the family enjoyed your trip. It is after all what the 7Stanes set out to do, encourage people into D&G and ride bikes, think it is succeeding 😆 Possibly becoming a victim of it`s own success.
D&G has quite a bit to offer the tourist trade and has imo been hampered by successive governments pumping money into the Highlands and Central Belt.
At last got the vid. Nothing like reading the help..
The area was amazing. My wife who didn't cycle was as keen to go back as any one. Probably persuaded my mum to give the area a whirl some time
Nice little vid ampthill, good to see kids enjoying the trails! What non biking things did your family do? I'm off to Dalbeattie in july, taking my wife, mum, little son and pooch and looking for things to keep them entertained.
There was loads of normal holiday stuff. Click the link in my first post
Ice cream at kipford. Walk towards Rockford and see loads of sculptures some one has put up
Beach at Sandy Hills is lovely (not so much for swimming but its pretty and has sand) rocks and shells
Mabie and Kirroughtree both have walks starting from the bike trail head. Dalbeattie is confusing as the walks are signed to start from a different car park, once you've got the maps you can start them from the bike trail car park.
Near Mabie forst is the National costume museum (not that we visited)
We passed a kids chocolate factory on the way to Kirroughtree
Tourist infromation was packed with leaflets for things that looked good but we didn't get to
we hired a boat from here
they seemed very professional and had loads activities
Thanks for that.
There's a local business network website here
http://www.7stanes.com/
and
http://eat-sleep-ride.com/
which has contact numbers for all the local businesses that are biker friendly
Don't forget Drumlanrig as a great family day with a mix of country hoose and awesome trails
Rik
I have ridden Drumlanrig and enjoyed it, is the castle itself worth a visit?
Lovely - you don't actually see many kids their age riding. Keep up the good work 🙂
Bagstard - Member
Nice little vid ampthill, good to see kids enjoying the trails! What non biking things did your family do? I'm off to Dalbeattie in july, taking my wife, mum, little son and pooch and looking for things to keep them entertained.
[url= http://www.welcometoscotland.com/things-to-do/attractions/museums-and-galleries/dumfries-galloway/shambellie-house-museum-of-costume ]Shambellie House costume museum[/url]
http://www.mabiefarmpark.co.uk/
http://dalsconefarmfun.co.uk/ [url= http://www.dgcommunity.net/dgcommunity/miniweb.aspx?id=310 ]swimming[/url]
http://www.drumlanrig.com/
[url= http://www.historic-
scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_047&PropName=Caerlaverock%20Castle]Caerlaverock Castle[/url]
http://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/things-to-do/Dumfries [url= http://www.lovetoescape.com/cdps/holiday_attractions/scotland/dumfries_and_galloway/all_tourist_regions/all_towns/childrens_activities.html ]more links[/url]
Anything else you might fancy?
Thanks Trekster, looks like all bases pretty much covered there! 😀
Nae bother
Lots of people starting to discover D&G rather than hike up to the Highlands nowadays.The trek down to the South coast an expensive drag and the Lkaes saturated at holiday times 🙄 Visitor numbers up by around 3% last yr apparently
Castle Douglas is classed as the Food Town, Wigtown as the Book Town and Kirkcubright as the Artists Town
There is a shortage of 7Stanes till the new one is designed and printed so best go to their web site and print off if you need any.
That was a great video there and Dalbeattie looks really lush on the video.
So much to do in the area including a whole day's worth of visiting megalithic stone circles and the like, and plenty of amazing tiny B roads for road riding too in the middle of nowhere.
If your heading from Dalbeattie/Mabie way to Kirroughtrie there is also Laggan outdoor, just the other side of Gatehouse. Lots to do there, archery, Zorb balling, clay pigeon shooting, mountain boarding, etc!! Plus the chocolate factory at Twynholm is def worth visit if you have a sweet tooth!!