[Closed] glentress black route good/bad???

It's 20 miles long, nearly half of it is up, nearly half of it is down, not much is flat.

It's not very technical, just quite long and bumpy in places. And very quiet, although you sometimes see traffic on Deliverance/Redemption.

Worth the effort IMHO.

Good; plenty of climbing and plenty of rocky descending.
If you've got the legs do the black and the red, as the red has Spooky Wood (basically a mile long BMX track) which is awesome fun and not as bone-breaking as some of the black trail.

Go on, do both!

my favorite trail in Glentress...

Or do the black on the way up and the red on the way down...

Black is good. Quieter and not full of people in pressure suits and full facers. Mix it in with Broon Troot too, thats the best bit at GT.

did the red on sat the downhill was fun..how long are they combined

It's a good, long, big effort AM trail. The first half climb is worth the entry price alone. Very rewarding. Mad stuff at the end in the shape of North Shore stuff but that's avoidable. I think the 'black' rating refers to the fitness levels required more than the actual danger involved, though it does require experience to ride it well.

was suposed to ride kirroughtree on the sunday but bloody van broke down :(...that black route i do like

there is a shortcut out of Deliverance that you can take to Spooky Wood. Then turn left out of Spooky and do Betty Blue, then pick up the Red again. Before heading back down to the Hub climb back up to the skills/jummp park roll thro there and take Electric Blue back to the Hub 😆 😆

Short cut from Deliverance to Spooky Wood ? In the Escher version maybe...

It's nice, not that long. I'm a hero 😉 and did it in 1hr 45minutes (we then rode to innerleithen did that then back to GT for a blast round the red - like I said, I'm a hero :wink:).

You can combine it with the red. Look at the trail maps and you can jump off the black, climb a small hill and be at the climb upto spooky wood.

Worth doing. The red is more full of features but quite short. If you've never ridden it the best thing to do would go and find out for yourself. Some of it is fantastic (like deliverance) and you shoulddo most things once.

hels - Member
Short cut from Deliverance to Spooky Wood ? In the Escher version maybe...

This one

You can combine it with the red. Look at the trail maps and you can jump off the black, climb a small hill and be at the climb upto spooky wood.

[url= http://www.thehubintheforest.co.uk/Downloads/7stanesglentressinnerleithen.pdf ]Post 87 on map[/url]

If you are picking the best bits include Ho Chi Minh (still good even after some sanitising near the top) then down onto Zoom or Bust and if you have some locals with you the stuff down the side of the hill to the bottom of Janet's Brae Road thats unmarked and needs riding.

But nothing at Glentress beats the Boundary Trail followed by Deliverance for big smiley faces I reckon, fastest way to the top is up the radio mast road take a left just before the quarry above freeride and keep pedalling, quite steep in places. Right onto the Boundary Trail once you get the mast in eye site.

Trekster - Post 87 on trail map takes you up a wee walking path, then you have at least couple of km of fireroad before you get to Spooky Wood climb, which starts at post 38. Not a shortcut ! Trust me I know what I'm doing...

Or do the black on the way up and the red on the way down...

Madness! The Boundary Trail is way more fun than Spooky Wood and if you do the Boundary Trail then you're getting full advantage of the altitude you've just climbed rather than wasting a bunch of it getting down to Spooky Wood.

Doing the red on the way up and carrying on up to the Boundary Trail is quite a fun thing, though.

hels - Member
Trekster - Post 87 on trail map takes you up a wee walking path, then you have at least couple of km of fireroad before you get to Spooky Wood climb, which starts at post 38. Not a shortcut ! Trust me I know what I'm doing...

Not doubting you hels, just save climbing all the way out of Repentance which kills my back!!! Is there another way?

Was that track not the original(part of)the route before Deleverance was created?

After post 38 there isn't that much climbing left anyway that is pretty much the top of redemption - if you wanted to include Spooky Woods which is good fun and understandable, I would do it first then go back up through on the fireroad (sorry Push Up if you are a full on awesome stoked rad freeride dude) but pass the top of Spooky and head back up to the radio mast road again - and on along Deliverance.

The Shore in Ewok village is closed just now anyway there is a diversion which is annoying as there are some rather fun off-piste trails from there that take you pretty much vertical down the hill and miss out the last parts of the rest of the rather boring red descent after Ewok.

coogan - Member
Black is good. Quieter and not full of people in pressure suits and full facers. Mix it in with Broon Troot too, thats the best bit at GT.

+1

I love the black, well worth the effort and Broon Troot is an incredible piece of trail.

Ages since I've done it, but it's a [i]great[/i] trail... Nicely worn in, a lot of it feels more like a "natural" ie nonpurposebuilt trail rather than typical trail centre trail. No, not massively technical- though the bits at the end have their moments- but then neither is most of kirroughtree black. I think I prefer just to blast round the red and throw in wee diversions here and there but the black's still well worthwhile.

Make sure and go and do Zoom or Bust on the way out- watch out for the trail on the left as you ride towards the start of Soor Plooms, it loops back to the bottom of the skills area at post 121, lovely.

Broon Troot? No such trail 😉 Move along, nothing to see here.

broon troot..... Please.... i'm there next wk. tell tell...

The Black is a blast, great work out on the legs, some great scenery and a few fantastic descents. Even better on a hardtail too 😀

Do the black, all of the black. Britney Spears is a cracking bit of trail. I'm assuming all of the black is now clear after all the trees that were down earlier in the year. If you like Deliverance, it was even better before.