Thinking of heading to Scotland to do some mountain biking, preferable trail centres but would go elsewhere for an adventure.
If you only have a week which trail centres would you suggest?
I prefer fast, flowing single track!

Suggestions welcome.
Cheers!

Glentress / Innerleithen is an obvious start.

The Pentlands are not a trail centre, but have flowy singletrack if you know where to look.

Bias alert cos I live here, but Strathspey – stay anywhere between Laggan and Aviemore. Only one trail centre, but huge amounts of natural riding at any level.

Best bits of Scotland? The bits without tarmac on them because you can ride all of it (with a few reasonable exceptions). 🙂

If you like lonely, I’d say NW Highlands otherwise.

If you want to be able to cut a ride short, around Aviemore.

What’s a trail centre? 🙂

You will be driving past a lot of fantasic natual riding but a tour of the trail centres is a good way of packing a lot of great riding into a week, whatever anyone says.

Day 1 – Kirroughtree
Day 2 – Dalbeatte + Mabie Double
Day 3 – Innerleithen (Red + DH tracks)
Day 4 – Glentress
Day 5 – Drive + Laggan
Day 6 – Fort William
Day 7 – Rest, insert somewhere in the middle on the day with the worst forecast.

What’s a trail centre?

Great places to avoid bike snobs 😉

mikewsmith – Member
‘What’s a trail centre?’
Great places to avoid bike snobs

🙂

The point I was trying to make is you don’t have to think in terms of trail centres in Scotland. The whole place is a trail centre.

Seeing as you only have a week base yourself in the Tweed Valley somewhere, do the obvious trail centres there and then go do some of the wilder routes in the area – trawl Strava and see what is there.

any of the 7 stanes are good and just across borders.
Personally I like kirroughtree, I think it has good flow, some dont!
However arguably the best Scottish trail centre is Golspie Wildcta. Its a long way north though.
BUT if I was going to Scotland for biking, I would avoid them and go to Torridon!

[video]https://vimeo.com/47769327[/video]

If you wanted a Highland adventure and everything ramped up to epic then it’s definitely Torridon. The drama of the mountains, the wild feeling, and the superb quality of rocky riding is fantastic but….

It sounds like the Tweed valley would be great for you. Maybe if you wanted an adventure and taste of the Highlands then add a day of riding Ben Lomond. Riding off a summit and one that’s a fantastic viewpoint has got to be rather special.

Surprised that no one has mentioned Comrie Croft yet, it’s a fantastic trail centre and well worth a visit. It has a more natural feel to it than any of the 7 stanes centres.

If you want the best of Scotland forget about trail centres and get a map and compass!

If you want to pack a lot into a week with minimum faff and chance of trudging through a bog getting eaten alive by midges whilst living the compass and a map dream, then yeah stick to established rides like trail centres or routes on http://www.mtbtrails.info/Trail_main_page.aspx

How much driving you want to do is another key factor, Torridon is great but a significant drive from the south, probably 5 hours from the Borders.

I’ve just spent the week riding with a friend from that Lahndan down here in the south of scotland and we did:
Innerleithen Golfie
Yair & Thornielee
Gypsy Glen & Glentress
Ben Lomond
Innerleithen again

Don’t forget non 7 stanes like drumlanrig and comrie as above in your trail centre list and Golspie and Balblair up north.

I was just coming on to shout Drumlanrig, when I see Big Jim has already mentioned it. An easy and picturesque 20mins off the motorway if you’re heading further north (or heading home again) or as a wee Jewel to ride alongside the Stanes..

All trails are riding well even after the torrential weather. The black and red routes have been upgraded after some heavy harvesting last year and is getting good feedback.

If you’re just passing thru this might not apply so much, but a season ticket is only £15 which gets a free hot beverage every month and 10% off in the already reasonably priced cafe, and discounts in local hotels etc. (£25 for a family)

Seems a waste of a drive if all you want is trail centres…you can pose at cafes with your carbon superbikes at any trail centre up and down the land. Dunkeld is good, lots of flowy stuff, stirling, aviemore, innerleithen…

The water…variety of scenery and the wildlife…

To be honest, slightly confused what you’re looking for. I don’t really think of trail centres as ‘singletrack’, even if they can be fast, and that’s more natural stuff.

Glentress is great, but busy unless you go for the black XC or the unmarked routes. Innerleithen is more flowy but has a much tougher climb to get the reward.

Comrie croft is great but short, so you need to do 3 or 4 laps really, but the blue there is a hoot.

Carron Valley is poor in comparison and not had a chance to ride many of the other trail centres personally, but I’ve had rave reports from a friend who has been up to Laggan and Golspie trails.

Glen Tilt is good for the scenery and the route we did was more landy track withe a long but gentle climb through some fords, then really fast on the way down to allow side by side racing. Plenty more up there that are more singletrack. But if you really want to stick to trail centres…

A week in Scotland with only one rest day for rain ? Optimistic.

I understand the appeal of trail centres when you have a week of precious leave. Much less hassle finding the routes for a start. And a nice warm café and shower at the end. If you haven’t been before its all new trails.

And trail centres have singletrack – surely the very definition is a prepared path that fits one bike at the time ?

glasgowdan – Member
Seems a waste of a drive if all you want is trail centres…you can pose at cafes with your carbon superbikes at any trail centre up and down the land

Come for the mountain biking, stay for the warm friendly welcome….

Suggestions welcome.
Cheers!

Ask some of the above to lead/guide you on some of their suggestions 💡

Yesterday and one day last week I happened to meet visitors to my local trail centres and teamed up with them for a ride(unplanned). All were experienced t-c riders but new to these trails and all commented on what a difference it makes having a “local” to follow/lead them around pointing out any “obstacles” and dare I say it “fun” bits 😉
The Ladies I rode with yesterday are going back to Ae tomorrow they enjoyed it so much, if they survive Dalbeattie today!

I sort of agree with glasgowdan. If all you intend to do is ride along man-made tracks in some forest then there seems little point in travelling very far. The culture, language, food and drink isn’t that different from elsewhere in the UK (especially in the south).

What is different is the landscape and the access legislation that lets you explore it.

Trekster makes a good point though; if you have limited time to explore or are less confident with navigation then trail centres take away that problem.

If I’m available, I’m always happy to meet up with folk visiting my area and show them my local riding.

I took a guided group on a road trip across Scotland in April – 2 days in and around the Cairngorms, 2 more around Torridon and then onto Skye… all awesome – great riding and jaw-dropping scenery. Have GPXs if you want them – email’s best. Personally, I’d save trail centres for the bad weather days…

On trailcentres, Comrie is short but it really packs it in- there’s probably more interest in 100 metres of comrie on average than 1000 metres of average trailcentre. It’s also more natural-feeling for much of it. A wee gem and well located.

You definitely do need to take into account distance, Torridon should be on the list but it’s a long way- you’ll basically sacrifice an additional day’s riding to get there and back.

Trekster makes a good point though; if you have limited time to explore or are less confident with navigation then trail centres take away that problem.

If I’m available, I’m always happy to meet up with folk visiting my area and show them my local riding.

Cheers.
As someone who has been around since B7S I can understand the “get a map and explore” proponents. That is how I started “off road/mountain biking/Enduro biking” etc 30 odd years ago, the debate re natural/man made will never go away. However a lot of natural is/was manmade ie old drove/coffin roads and walking paths we now bike on, they are just not manicured/graded and I use the word “graded” loosely considering the erosion and lack of maintenance currently witnessed on 7Stanes trails 😥
However as has been said above not everyone has the map reading skill/riding skills/hill craft skills/confidence or as I often find time. Lots of riders are either fitting a few days riding in between shifts, visiting family, quick ride whilst family do something else etc. Hence the reason, like it or not, trail centres have become extremely popular and have spawned many a business, created many jobs including for some of the posters above.

Would mtbing be as popular without them?

Probably stating the obvious there 🙄

I put a couple of options on this thread-

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/scotland-trip-planning-help-needed

Near the bottom, with all the pictures. We have done a couple in the last two years and they’ve been amazing.

I’d head to the Highlands, it seems a shame to go all that way and ride just the trail centres (by all means do a few!) and stick to the Borders when there’s gurt big hills further north.

Day 1 – Kirroughtree
Day 2 – Dalbeatte + Mabie Double
Day 3 – Innerleithen (Red + DH tracks)
Day 4 – Glentress
Day 5 – Drive + Laggan
Day 6 – Fort William
Day 7 – Rest, insert somewhere in the middle on the day with the worst forecast.

Long, long drive home…

tbh While you could spend a week just in the Tweed Valley (and not ride all the trails) it’d be a waste not to see the ‘north’.

On the above timetable I’d just do the 7 Stanes – plenty of riding and not too much travelling. Plus plenty of (Strava) routes to ride in/about the trail centres.

All of it! A week’s not long enough.

But the suggestion of staying in the borders is reasonable if you like flowy trails. Almost seems a bit of a pity not to go further north and do something more adventurous for a bit of variety though. Best thing about Scottish riding is you can ride anywhere off road within reason, so not doing some natural trails would be missing out even if you get more flow.

I like the 7 stanes (mostly, Ae was a bit brutal on a cheap hardtail) and I pretty much only ride trail centres due to time constraints.

The scenery around there is lovely, much nicer than my local riding, ok it’s probably no where near as good as the proper highlands, but from the midlands it’s only 4-5 hours drive away, perfect for a weeks holiday.

Any new/less familiar trail is good imho.

Day 1 – Kirroughtree
Day 2 – Dalbeatte + Mabie Double
Day 3 – Innerleithen (Red + DH tracks)
Day 4 – Glentress

Seems a decent start but I wouldn’t then bother driving all the way up to Fort William it’s a miserable place. I’d go Perthshire instead from there you can head up into the Cairngorms from Blair Atholl or if weather isn’t so great do the trails at Comrie Croft.

Slight hijack, anyone know how early you can get in to Drumlanrig? Or park outside locally? I’m up there with the family in a couple of weeks, and fancy swapping Ae out of my itinerary for a go at this. But I have to do my riding between 5am and 8:30am, so if it’s gated I’m boned.

There’s a wee car park outside the gates (near the river). Leave the car there.

Excellent, cheers!

Don’t be a **** about it though, lots of people park there to dodge the parking and that probably doesn’t bode well for the trails themselves. So only park there if you have to and don’t use it to dodge the totally reasonable fiver pls!

Agreed Northwind, just had a mooch about online to find the spot but unless it’s gated and I can’t physically get in I’ll be taking my £6 to pay on the way out.

God’s Trailcentre = Kinlochleven

Yup! Except for the climbs! Go when it’s raining, the descents are best when they’re streams.

the descents are best when they’re streams

yep, did the Ciaran Path from Blackwater in May and had to wade the crossings in a couple of places.
2′ of raging torrent = not quite ridable

Family season ticket (2 x adults + 3 x kids) for the bike trails is £25 at Drumlanrig, AND… You get a free cuppa every month thrown in too.

Really, it’s damn reasonable at that.

Of the Seven Stanes, I think that Kirroughtree has the best trail, while Glentress/Innerleithen has the greatest selection of waymarked (and other) trails in one area. Unfortunately they’re pretty far apart – well Kirroughtree is pretty far from anywhere, at least by the standards of things that aren’t in the Highlands.

I would echo the sentiments of others that Drumlanrig is well worth visiting – personally I prefer it to several of the Seven Stanes and as trailcentres go it is a decent change from the usual trails made from crushed stone.