Ciaran path – who's ridden it and what did you think?

A loop which starts and finishes at Altnafeadh and takes in the dam, aqueduct, CP lower section, Kinlochleven, Devil’s Staircase climb(99% rideable on the return…) and Devil’s Staircase descent back to Altnafeadh is a quality day out.

Doing that route on Saturday Stuart, My mate has an Ariel on demo and wants to go somewhere ‘rocky’ Ideal!.

To be honest, the first time I rode the Ciaran path, I was very disappointed, but to be fair, I’d only been riding a for 2 or 3 years, and was expecting something completely different!.

I’ll be ready for it this time!.

Have a good ‘un Greg. Let us know how you get on.

We rode this a couple of weeks ago. Some bits are tricky, but I reckon the descent is 98-99% rideable, though it may seem like it is a lot less. The difficulty is maintaining the focus and concentration to avoid crashing.

IME if it is too wet, or too midgey, or (yes, really) too hot it is noticably harder. We’ve ridden the tril when the burns that you have to cross were waist deep wades with significant risk of getting washed of down the hillside.

There were a lot of fallen trees on the lower section approaching KLL. The nature of the terrain made them difficult to outflank. At the end of the day I was on a Ti456 and maybe wished I’d been on a 5-6″ full susser.

I did it last year and found it hard going. It was very very wet the day I did it. I think if I went back now and did it on a dry day I would enjoy it far more and ride more of it. I’d say it’s a trail for people with a higher level of skill and fitness. It’s very eroded and was like a river when I did it. It might be a good idea to do it on it’s own without doing the Devil’s Staircase first if you’re not feeling very energetic. I did the both in one day and thought I was going to die.

I have ridden it twice now and enjoyed it more the second time,its not a brilliant trail but the techy bits are nice to ride and rewarding to clean if possible..

I have ridden it twice now and enjoyed it more the second time,its not a brilliant trail but the techy bits are nice to ride and rewarding to clean if possible.

Exactly how I feel about it!. First time, I was expecting something completely different, a problem I think most people who don’t rate it have. Last week, I knew what to expect, and also rode it on a full suss this time,which definitley helps!.

The trees down at the end are a bugger to get round, as they are huge multi-trunked things, no way over or through them. Adds a good 20 minutes onto the ride.

The loop over from Glencoe is a cracking day out, and has 3 cracking descents, The Ciaran Path itself, The Devils’ Staircase and in my opinion the best of the 3 – The descent on the WHW from the top of the Staircase all the way down to the Blackwater Dam Conduit.

It’s all good!.

First time, I was expecting something completely different.
Out of interest – what were you expecting?

It’s all good!
damn straight! 🙂

I dunno, was about 6 years ago, when I hadn’t done too much rocky stuff, I probably didn’t realise how hard work the descent would be, especially on a hardtail. Which I accept was entirely down to me!.

I’ve not read the thread, but it seems to me the stquestion would never have been asked before trail centres.