i'm wondering - has anyone got the train for a day of riding at Laggan? i've driven it many a time, but haven't had a car for a while, and it seems to be a little cheaper to get the train than hire a car (which i try to avoid if i can anyway).
i'm just wondering what the road is like from dalwhinnie to laggan? google maps says 9-odd miles, but i can't really remember the undulations of it. is it gonna kill me? how long shall i give it after multiple laps of the wolftrax? the train is every 4 (!!!) hours so natch i don't wanna miss one! or should i just cadge a lift??! i'll most likely go mid-week, so no cafe facilities either...
dalwhinnie to laggan is a decent climb. Kingussie is much flatter
dalwhinie is a lot hgher than laggan as well - at least 500 ft of climb on the return - 800 according to memory map
I'd head to/from Newtonmore instead. There's a lot less climbing and I'm pretty sure there are more trains (very few stop at Dalwhinnie).
From Bikeroutetoaster:
Laggan - Newtonmore 16km / 52m
Laggan - Dalwhinnie 15km / 154m
Agree with TJ on this one. However, if you're feeling adventurous you could get the train to Corrour and ride out from there instead...
I drive that road fairly regularly and there aren't any big hills, but it is generally downhill to laggan from dalwhinnie (and up in reverse of course), but not a lot (100m or so).
I rode from Laggan to dalwhinnie a few years ago and it seemed a big slog uphill all the way. maybe we were tired but thats what it felt like
Dalwhinnie to Laggan is a big up and a big down as far as I remember. Newtonmore would be my preference.
from dalwhinnie station you can get straight onto the loch ericht - river pattack route that takes you off road almost to laggan. Its about 25 miles but mostly flat or downhill along the river and a lovely wilderness ride. Couple of laps of laggan, a cafe stop then back along the road to the station of your choice - the perfect day out
Easy on the way there(wee bit up, then much more down, then flat), killer on the way back. I've done dalwhinnie to laggan, didn't head back up the way as i was heading for the corrieyarrick and then on down to fort william after wolftrax. There and back plus the trails would be a fair old jaunt. From memory, I'm sure I worked it out as 7 miles to the trail head from the station.
Vader - Memberfrom dalwhinnie station you can get straight onto the loch ericht - river pattack route that takes you off road almost to laggan. Its about 25 miles but mostly flat or downhill along the river and a lovely wilderness ride. Couple of laps of laggan, a cafe stop then back along the road to the station of your choice - the perfect day out
well less than 25 miles and not much climbing looking at the map. Like the idea
oooh yes, just ran the memory map and its 28km. I was in old albion mode last post.
Whatever you do don't try and follow the singletrack marked through allt an t sluic. It isn't there and what's more I went back to prove it when I couldn't believe it the first time....
Its a drag but its not that bad.Just a bit of a boring ride to finish off the day. I had to do it to finish off a 38 mile singlespeed ride as the car was parked in dalw. So maybe with gears it would pass a hell of a lot quicker lol.
Personally I'd do Newtonmore and ride back via Glen Banchor.
I like Vader's plan the best if you want to have the best of both worlds. Otherwise, Newtonmore to Laggan along the road will take you no time at all if you want to make an easier day of it.
well thanks everyone! i've not ridden 'off-piste' up there before and alas don't have a GPS, so would be worried about taking those off-road routes to laggan. it seems that the train to/from newtonmore is just as irregular as the dalwhinnie one, but a flatter ride between newtonmore-laggan seems preferable...
maybe this week, i'll post back on here if i find out anything significant (not sure what that could mean, though...)
personally, I'd get a return from newtonmore and get off at dalwhinnie on the way up and goto newtonmore for the return journey.well thanks everyone! i've not ridden 'off-piste' up there before and alas don't have a GPS, so would be worried about taking those off-road routes to laggan. it seems that the train to/from newtonmore is just as irregular as the dalwhinnie one, but a flatter ride between newtonmore-laggan seems preferable...maybe this week, i'll post back on here if i find out anything significant (not sure what that could mean, though...)
nice idea seosamh77, though i think i'll just get off at newtonmore, as i'm not familiar with the road. i don't want to miss something after a tiring day of riding because i've not seen the road before!
Bear in mind that there's a lot more to Newtonmore - Dalwhinnie has a small shop and a takeaway van that might not be open at the time, so irrespective of route Newtonmore is the more sensible choice.
yes - streetview shows two cafés and a coop at least, in newtonmore! 🙂