Badger divide

Hi,

A group of us are looking to do the badger divide in May. 3 people travelling up and dumping a car in Glasgow and then catching a train to Inverness.

2 people travelling from Perth will meet us at Inverness.

What are the trains like for taking bikes in Scotland? We are just about to book the train tickets. I know 3 bikes on a train in England can be a pain.

Any suggestions for somewhere safe to leave a car for a few days in Glasgow? Which is the best car park etc. Doesn’t have to be too near to the train station as we can cycle. Just need to make sure the cars still there when we get back.

Are there any alternatives to the train? @scotroutes are there any shuttle runs that support walkers or lejog we can hire or are they a lot more expensive than the trains?

And any advice or top tips on the route is really appreciated.

Thanks

I left mine on the street in kinning park when I did it, and it was still there when I got back! Nothing fancy mind, it’s a 14 plate Skoda superb so not all that desirable. Bikes on those trains is a pain – but did I hear about some improvements recently? I booked so had a space, but there was barely room for the two bikes. Had to take a wheel off and spin bars iirc. Don’t think 3 was doable at the time. I hope it has improved.

Train spaces are strictly limited on the Glasgow – Inverness route and book out fast. As an experiment I tried a booking for 11th May. First service I tried on Trainline already had no bikes spaces. So if not already booked get going.

An option for Glasgow parking is to park in Milngavie. That way when you finish the WHW you are at your car.

Also a very low crime area. Free parking in station car park if you get a space. Or on street. Across from the police station is free parking. Or always spaces in Keystone Ave. I park there for dog walking sometimes.

Train from Milngavie goes to Queen St for connect with Inverness train. Carries bikes. No booking required. Every 30 mins

I’m not 100% but may have read recently about city link buses taking bikes? Worth a google as an option for the Glas-Inv part.

#2 for the Citylink buses, this may be a better option and for sure, you’ll not be getting 5 people on the same train north anyway. The re-built old HS125 that run as many of the trains on that service only have a tiny, 2 bike upright cupboard and for bikepacking rigs, you’d probably only get one in that space anyway.
So you’re probably travelling on 2-3 different services anyway and meeting up in Inversnecky. So just as easy for some to book onto the buses.

Buses – citylink mainly, although Flixbus and Ember also get you around the central belt to Perth, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Trains – are often booked out from April – September for bikes. That said, odd times can work ( not the 9am from Glasgow) and we’ve a couple of times turned up and hoed to find no bikes on the train. These though were ‘days out from home’, not a big ride or holiday.

The re-built old HS125 that run as many of the trains on that service only have a tiny, 2 bike upright cupboard and for bikepacking rigs, you’d probably only get one in that space anyway.

You’d probably fit two…

…but what you can’t see (and I didn’t see) is space for more bikes through the door there. Not sure how you tell but ScotRail were really helpful on WhatsApp when booking:

Okay, best thing to do is go here https://www.buytickets.scotrail.co.uk/buytickets/advancedsearch.aspx

You can book your tickets and reserve the bike space just before you pay. ^Angus

I did the Badger last year, in May.

The actual days I did it were dictated by the the bike-space on the train I could book (from Edinburgh) and on LNER no way would another bike fit in with mine (loaded large 29 HT).

Might be easier (and cheaper) to get a one-way hire van from Glasgow (or wherever else you start as commuter trains can just take bikes unbooked) to Inverness and pick up your pals in Perth.

Be aware that even in mid-late May it was below freezing overnight if camping.

And don’t under-estimate how much climbing there is between Inverness & Fort Augustas.

“And don’t under-estimate how much climbing there is between Inverness & Fort Augustas”

This, we had to drop onto the road and blast the last 15km into Fort Augstas to catch the chipper for dinner. We didn’t get into Inverness till midday mind for starting the route

Train spaces are strictly limited on the Glasgow – Inverness route and book out fast. As an experiment I tried a booking for 11th May. First service I tried on Trainline already had no bikes spaces. So if not already booked get going.

Are you sure this isn’t because advance singles are only available a certain number of weeks in advance? You need a seat reservation to reserve a bike space, which you obviously don’t get on an off-peak/anytime ticket. There’s plenty of advance singles and bike space on w/c 3rd April, but seemingly none after that.

I did it in ’21.

Parking wise, I used something like Justpark and ended up in a gated hotel carpark.

Train – I think there’s only 2 spaces and yes, my gravel bike basically filled the cupboard.

Inverness to FA was one of the best bits of the route, riding wise. I don’t recall it being ludicrously lumpy. One of the singletrack descents was absolutely stunning. (albeit I left Inverness by 0900, so was at FA by lunchtime +/-). Getting up the Corrieyairack afterwards, on the other hand… <<puke>>

Inverness to FA was one of the best bits of the route, riding wise. I don’t recall it being ludicrously lumpy.

Its not, its deceptively lumpy. Just shy of 5,000ft of climbing by the time you get to Ft Augustus iirc? It’s easy to think something like “ah its just part of the Great Glen Way, so will be easy” when it really needs similar planning to the rest of the ride (albeit with various easy stops on the way).

We did it in May ’21, and got absolutely hammered by the weather for the whole ride to Fort Augustus. I was a mess by the time I got off the Corrieyairack

Bookmarked

Could be right about it being too early to book bike spaces in May yet. Used to get cheap seats and bike spaces released 12 weeks ahead but possibly with current rail problems this has reduced. In any case I would be checking my dates and booking asap anyway.

Or sign up with Trainline for an alert when cheap seats go on sale.

https://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert

FWIW, we did a 1 way car hire from Glasgow to Inverness and it worked a treat. Not much more expensive that the train and none of the stress of relying on Scotrail. Was 2 of us so we just got something we knew wouldn’t be too much hassle to get the bikes in (Focus sized) and it was grand

Yes. It’s a pity rail is so crap for an ideal scenario. City to city with a bit of luggage.

I wouldn’t even mind if there was a reasonable charge for a bike as long as I could get it on without booking 12 weeks ahead.

@intheborders

Might be easier (and cheaper) to get a one-way hire van from Glasgow (or wherever else you start as commuter trains can just take bikes unbooked)

I took your advice. Booked a van from enterprise in Glasgow to Inverness. With petrol it works out the same as 3 train tickets but without the hassle of bikes on trains. I’d much rather travel by train but it’s just not set up for it, especially not bikes with bags strapped to them.

Any recommendations for a car park or free parking near enterprise 40 Oswald St, Glasgow G1 4PL?

Does anyone have any recommendations for picking up food?

Any little gems on route, little tea rooms, farm shops etc?

Thanks

Beware of the pig up at the Abriachan cake stop; it will try to steal your bags and will eat anything. Including the bag..
The Turkish restaurant in Ft Augustus is great.
Corrour station restaurant is fab and does breakfast too, if your timing is right.
I can also recommend the post office cafe at Bridge of Balgie, Glen Lyon.
The veggie breakfast at Mhor 84 is very good indeed. But it’s a slight diversion off the published route, taking a low level link of NC7.

I’m doing it this bank holiday weekend, I’ve booked the train, wish me luck 🤞

There’s a couple of decent cafes and a pub in Killin.

And a pub, a cafe and a chippy in Aberfoyle.

@didnthurt

Let me know how you get on. Good luck

+1 the Turkish in FA, 3 courses and a couple of beers got my over the pass 🙂

Between FA and Killin you’re very limited for anything, and it’s +100 miles with probably 90 miles offroad.

Corrour Station (recommended, and opens all day) and then the little shop/cafe in Glen Lyon.

Killin has eveything.

The Azuma LNER trains have very poor bike storage. Max 4 and they are awkward. I would suggest you use a bike bag like this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185556864328?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=a7sr9ynoqds&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=Ysh_nF-GQNS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

You will need to dismantle your bike a bit and then just pile on with all your gear. As long as it looks like luggage you can just book a normal seat. It is a pain but it does get round the woeful lack of capacity

We shortened the route by cycling the south side of the loch skipping the great glen way and bailed at callender and got the train back from dunblane

It’s a brilliant route

I only clicked on this thread because I thought it was going to say badgers down South are better off and live in bigger setts than badgers oop North.

@damascus
My notes about food from 2 years ago
331km
30km Drumnadrochit Pub
52km Invermoriston Shop & Cafe
62km Fort Augustus lots of options
74km Blackburn Corrieyack Bothy
140km Loch Ossian YHA
143km Corrour Station Cafe 8:30-8pm
170km Rannoch Station tea room (off route) 8-4:30
165km Bridge of Gaur
190km Kinloch Rannoch Tea room (off route)
190km Bridge of Balgie Tea room
226km Killin lots of options
238km Lochearnhead shop
255km Callander lots of options and YHA
280km Aberfoyle lots of options
297km Drymen
331km End.

@mikeyp 👌 ťhank you

190km Bridge of Balgie Tea room
226km Killin lots of options

And that’s a very long 36km too. Only regret doing it last year was thinking I could push on to Killin and not stop at the tearoom. Bonked spectacularly about 5km later.

@didnthurt

How was the badger divide?

Any tips? What are the conditions like?

Thanks

Bonked spectacularly about 5km later.

I do hear that there are a few bored folk living in Glen Lyong, and there are rumors of wife swapping in the village, but that is quick work as you pass through….

Doing this the second weekend of June. South to north, stopping overnight in B&Bs in Killin and Laggan (slightly off route but who would do the badger without stopping off at the laggan mtb trails??).

Hired a van one way to drive back to Glasgow for £90, thus avoiding the train anxiety.

Have decided to use the hardtail with 50mm gravel tyres for the win.

The tips on here have been very useful for planning purposes and much appreciated.

bookmarked for future ref.

Hired a van one way to drive back to Glasgow for £90, thus avoiding the train anxiety

who with?

Will let curto answer for himself, but when we did it we used Arnold Clark. Hired a medium-ish SUV instead though as it was just for 2 of us and we fancied the extra comfort

think enterprise do good one way rates

Enterprise. Renault kangoo “or similar” 🙂

I can only see that as £140 minimum.

Guess I got a booking it early discount?

Hired a van one way to drive back to Glasgow for £90, thus avoiding the train anxiety.

You might be returning the van I leave there. Mine was £115 all in.

Going south to north is the best route, you need to push further north than Killin on day one.

@didnthurt

How was the badger divide?

Any tips? What are the conditions like?

Thanks

Loved it! Didn’t manage the two days as I originally wanted to it. That’s mostly due to getting the train up the same day as starting so didn’t start until about 11am.

So…..

DAY ONE…
I got the train at 7am on the Saturday, train got in about 10:30am.
Started at 11am
Arrived at Fort Augustus at about 15:30pm, just missed out on the café serving hot food, a giant slice of cheese cake, a bag of crisps and a cup of tea went down well though.
Headed off to tackle the Corrieyairack Pass at about 4pm. My main aim for the first day was to get over this before it was dark. Passed the Blackburn Bothy, never investigated as I was on a mission. The climb gets steep but is definitely ridable all the way to the top, I pushed for sections as my legs were still reeling from the near constant climbing and descending of the Great Glen Way.
I didn’t hang around at the top, it was too misty to see much anyway. It was cold too.
I really enjoyed the descent with only one very loose right hand corner having me to pick my line around it. The rest was fine, even the fairly hefty waterbars.
Stopped at the Melgrave Bothy have a look around, it was empty but I left a note for the couple of guys I’d met on the train who were going to stay there that night.
Back on with the ride! I was now aiming to get to Corrour Station which is just under half way. There was so many red deer along the gravel road, they’re a little intimidating as they’re big buggers. Some got startled by me and ran off leaping over fences with real panache. The next section through Ardverikie was glorious, I’d warmed up and was feeling strong (the slight tail wind didn’t hurt either). It was now turning to dusk as I came to Lochan na h-Earba where there were numerous tents pitched along its shore on what looked like the best pitches. I pedaled on until I came to a perfect pitch at the far west end of the Loch just before the bridge. I looked at the route and decided that staying here would probably be the most sensible option especially as it was getting dark. The view from my tent was very nice. I heated some water on my trusty meths stove and enjoyed a freeze dried meal. Spicy Pork Noodles. Not bad. Followed by a coffee and a sip of Kraken rum. I fell asleep to the water lapping at the shore.
End of day one I had ridden 119km with 2,600 metres of climbing.

DAY TWO
I awoke at about 6am. I didn’t want to set off too early as I knew that the Corrour cafe opened at 8:30am and as I was only about 2 hours away so had time for a bowl of porridge.
The trail immediately went downhill on a swooping gravel trail, not too steep so could be taken nice and easy. This led to a nice easy gravel climb leading to Loch Guillbinn. I’m so glad I didn’t ride this in the dark last night as this was easily the most beautiful part of the ride. It’s so hard to take it all in or to gauge the scale of what you’re looking at until you see a what looks to be a tiny house (turned out to be Strath Ossian Lodge) in the far distance. A kilometres after passing the Lodge you’re onto Loch Ossian and Corrour Station. It was starting to rain and get cold at this point. Just in time for my second breakfast of the day. The venison sausages are incredible, in fact so was the rest of the cooked breakfast.
All that morning and the day before I’d seen what looked like quite fresh tyre marks. One set gravel and one set mountain bike and when I approached Corrour station the bikes that made the tyre marks were parked outside.
I chatted to the owners of the bikes inside. They were doing a slightly shorter Badger and would be finishing in Dunblane instead of Glasgow. They were also taking a more leisurely 4 days to do it. They were having a great time. We’d bump into each other a few times for the next 50km or so due to my crappy navigation and them cutting a bit out. The last time I passed them was on the fast descent into Glen Lyon. I was going a little bit faster than what was sensible as I heard I might still make it to the tea room before it shut. I made it with 50 minutes to spare (it shuts at 5pm), and was joined by the bikers about ten minutes later. A large slice of quiche and a coconut slice went down a treat. As I was wanting to crack on, I set off leaving my fellow bikepackers for the last time to climb up the road climb (and very pleasant a road climb it was, except the last steep couple of kilometres) to Stronuich Dam and beyond. Down the fast road to the other side then a pleasant spin along the valley to Killin. No time to stop at the welcoming pub, I was trying to get as far as I could that day, in order to leave as few a kilometres as possible on my third and last day. I’d promised my wife I’d be home for lunch on the Monday at the latest.
The climb out of Killin was a steep and muddy. Soon over, the NCN route 7’s tarmac felt so fast, I really had to think hard about whether I wanted to turn off for the Glen Ample section. But turn off I did.
Now I’d never ridden Glen Ample before despite it being only anout an hour’s drive away but I had heard that it was once a classic route but wasn’t so much anymore. The climb up the glen started as it finished, a push along a muddy path. I can’t see myself ever wanting to ride this section again as it was just a filthy chore with me pushing most of the way up it’s steep slopes. It was getting dark now. This was perfectly timed with both my Garmin watch losing power, my battery powerpack running out of juice and me dropping (and cracking the screen) my phone. This is the only time of the ride that made me swear aloud.
Phone still worked and was used to record the rest of my ride with no issues.
The descent down to the road is rapid! Not great at dusk.
The road section was dispatched as quickly as my weary legs would carry me. I had lights but that doesn’t stop a car speeding into the back of me. Once back on the cycle path I was getting a bit hungry and fancied a pint. Just missed the pub serving at Kilmahog. A little off route I rode on to Callandar. Tesco was my saviour!!!
I was thinking about camping around Aberfoyle but couldn’t face the climb over the hill. Loch Drunkie would be closer but still a bit of a climb. I found a decent spot along Loch Venachar, paid my £4 permit. Set up camp and sat eating my chicken sandwich and gulping down my bottle of Ossian beer (I couldn’t pass this up for a bottle of Birra Moretti could I?).
Went to bed at about 11pm after riding my longest one day bikepacking distance. My legs still felt ok.
Day two I had ridden 182km with about 2,500 metres of climbing.

DAY THREE
I was up before the sun was up and away on the bike for just after 5am. I needed to crack on if I was to get to Glasgow and the train home for lunch.
The climb over to Aberfoyle was nicer than I had remembered. The descent was over quickly too. I was praying the public toilet would be open but no luck. I took full use of the public water bottle filling station, even giving the bike a quick skoosh to wash off some the Glen Ample filth.
The next part of the ride went by quite quickly, though very enjoyable. It’s a mixture of surfaces including a narrow footbridge to navigate a couple of short sharp steep pushes. Also the climbing doesn’t stop just yet. Onto the West Highland Way to Milngavie. I timed it perfectly to coincide with the mass start but still said morning to everyone including the grumpy looking ones.
I went into the first cafe I saw, at least Costa’s are clean and familiar.
Easy spin into Glasgow and along the Kelvin walkway. I like this part of Glasgow. The sun was starting to make an appearance too. Better than the previous day’s of on-off cold light rain.
Kelvin Grove Gallery came into site and it too was sporting exterior scaffold just like Inverness Castle two days before.
Obligatory photo outside, a much needed toilet stop, then a spin onto the train station. My train was waiting for me on the platform, even got a bike space. Made it home by midday. Other than an overall feeling of fatigue, tender thighs and a slight tightness in my right hamstring, I was fine.
Day three I rode 68 kilometres with just over 900 metres of climbing.

Happy days.

LESSONS LEARNED…
The West Glen Way is hard going. Would be more enjoyable with an unladen bike. There are some seriously steep sections on it that had me pushing up and even – on one steep steppy corner – pushing down. The descent into Invermoriston is incredibly fast where you could over egg it if you’re a bit cocky.
Most write-ups and YouTube videos on the Badger divide, the riders tend to underestimate how far they’ll get on the first day, and I also did the same.
Take enough food for at least a full day with a bit of contingency (my contingency food was a bag of honey roasted peanuts that was 1000 calories for the full bag 😋).
The Glen Ample section is horrible and easily the worst section. Don’t hit it like I did as it was getting dark as it’s very remote feeling with mostly a push up with a incredibly fast descent to the main road, which you then have to ride on for a few kilometres.
No need to drop down to Rannoch Loch as it just turns straight back up the hill, it currently has a site compound at the bottom that you also need to navigate around.
There is more than one Badger Divide route gpx file out there. The Komoot one seems to be the one to follow.
Try to time your trip so you can eat at either Corrour Station or Glen Lyon tea room, or do as I did and eat at both.
The top of the Corrieyairack Pass was freezing and I could barely feel my hands at the bottom of the descent. I stupidly only took thin gloves.
I wore bib tights the whole time and would again for similar conditions.
I didn’t see a single midge!!! Bonus!!!
Try to look up and take in as much of the views and scenery as you can. It is incredibly beautiful.

Have fun!