[Closed] i want a week offroad route in scotland.............help me.

Knoydart - you`ve always longed to do it !

Wrexham?

madeinyorkshire - Member
Knoydart - you`ve always longed to do it !

you fancy it in september, with me, trout, noggin and dougie??

Road from Inverness to Cannich, all way up Glen Affric to Alltbeithe. Turn south to Cluanie Inn on A87 , over to loch Loyne,West to Glen Quoish,
Kinloch Hourn to Barrisdale Knoydart over Mam Barrisdale to Inverie.
Route Back : Over Mam Meadail to Carnoch /Sourlies Bothy ,Glen dessary, Loch arkaig to Clunes and then up the Great Glen way back to Inverness.
Wilderness ride !

Only get(all !) school holidays these days as I`m not working for myself now. going up to West coast of scotland for Easter fortnight in van.

Glenfinnan to Sourlies via Glen Dessary is mostly rideable in decent conditions.

Fantastic wilderness biking.

Dont forget Torridon...

Ton, is this a solo "man finds himself" trip or are you taking visitors....

ton...is it open invite for sept?

At that time of year it has to take in Glen Lichd and Glen Affric. How about Great Glen Way to Loch Arkaig then make up a route to Sourlies Bothy, through Knoydart to Kinloch Hourn, make up a route from there to Glen Lichd, onto Glen Affric and get back to Inverness from there somehow.

That would be the perfect route outline. You fill in the details and find the necessary shortcuts.

When in September? I could be tempted, might even show you the way.

madeinyorkshire - Member
Road from Inverness to Cannich, all way up Glen Affric to Alltbeithe.[b] Turn south to Cluanie Inn on A87 [/b]

No, no, no.

fella's, sorry it is a week we do every year, with a few good mates.
druidh, i was gonna mail you and see what you came up with.
and stuartiec if he see's this......
and kennyp............ 8)

Nae probs, Ton - I'll have a wee think. Plenty of ideas from the above though. Your main issue is gonna be getting to/from Inverness. In fact, you might be as well considering how to end at a railway station so you can Scotrail it back to your plane and then thinking about routes from there. How many of you are doing this - Scotrail can be flexible, but a big group turning up with bikes, all expecting to get on a wee train, might be an issue.

PS - your tyres are in. Should be with you Friday.

Hi Ton.

I'll send you some thoughts by email in the next few days. Too ****ing knackered to make any sense just now.

13thfloormonk (Ian) is yer man on here for adventurous multi-day trips.

Depends on whether you want to end up back at your starting point or not. Best idea for 5/6 days would be a coast to coast, though the logistics of getting to the start and finish might be tricky.

You could get the train to Aviemore and spend a few days riding round the Cairngorms. Check out OffRoadAdventures for details. Or part way round the loop head up from Blair Atholl (there's an early morning train) to Dalwhinnie and head down the old Thieves Road past Ben Alder and across Rannoch Moor by any one of a number of routes. There'll be a fair bit pushing though.

Or if you get to Knoydart as mentioned above, get the boat from Inverie across to Tarbet, then bike along Loch Morar to Mallaig, train to Fort Bill, then GGW to Inverness (bit dull though) or across Rannoch Moor and the Gaick Pass back to Aviemore. You'd be going some to do that in 6 days mind you.

A lot depends on how fit the group is, are you carrying tents and what the weather is like. In Knoydart, and on Rannoch Moor there'll be big chunks you have to walk. Your best bet for long off-road routes that are near all-rideable are in the Cairngorms.

Depending on dates, I could help out with transport from inverness. I have a van and live about an hour from inverness... be nice to meet you, Ton. 🙂

Is this time frame long enough for a North to south off road. . ending in Inverness?

I have a series of doubletrack routes for the not gnarly but scenic trip if you want them. Email me if interested

Some good ideas in there. To add to them (hopefully) the obvious one for me would be loop out to the west coast something like … Affric – Achnashellach – Torridon – Gairloch area... and back maybe with bits of the coast and Fisherfield (stunning and not recommended) OR using Ullapool – Gleann Deag/Ardgay (quicker, duller but still good).

Most of the stuff on the way out above has a few options depending on what riding you like (generally after Affric it gets more singletrack and less estate stuff until the return leg). Up to Gairloch is pretty straightforward regardless of which of the obvious options you take as there is no need for a tent (everywhere mentioned has at least a hostel). So it's a lot of day rides end to end, no need for too much kit (which is a benefit as there would be plenty of carrying on some sections). Fisherfield (if you include it) is a different kettle of fish altogether and almost certainly not anyone else's cup of tea (lovely use of mixed metaphors). I'd include it with perfect conditions, but I'd never take anyone with me because I'm not sure they'd let me get out of there alive. Canny thread mind, makes me feel like getting out there soon.

Thanks Stuartie, but I've not really been further north than the Cairngorms (yet...)

Ton, if you were willing to fly in to Inverness, then immediately get the train south, then i had a brilliant four days starting at Blair Atholl. My route could easily be made into five days, something like below:

Blair Atholl to Glen Tilt to Linn of Dee

Linn of Dee to Glen Derry to Ryvoan Bothy via the Lairig an Laoigh

Ryvoan bothy to Dalwhinnie/Culra bothy via Aviemore/Inshriach forest/Glen Feshie

Culra to Fort Augustus via Loch Laggan/Glen Shira/Corrieyairaick Pass

Fort Augustus to Inverness via the Great Glen Way.

Don't know about the last bit, my experiences with the GGW have been a bit underwhelming to say the least! That route would work out at a bit over 250km I think, and takes in some big passes and great trails.

edit: here's a link to a thread after i did the above route [url] http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/blair-atholl-to-ft-william-via-aviemore-with-idiot-glen-tilt-night-ride-content [/url]

madeinyorkshire - Member
Road from Inverness to Cannich, all way up Glen Affric to Alltbeithe. Turn south to Cluanie Inn on A87

No, no, no.

miy - I did this path, An Caorann Mor, (in reverse) a couple of years back on a route from Invergarry, over Loch Loyne and on to Glen Affric. It was mostly a carry through pedal-grabbing, leg-scratching heather. Much better to go the long way round via Morvich methinks.

OTOH - I did get this camp spot in Glen Affric...
[img] [/img]

some fantastic options people, keep them coming.