Fife/Stirlingshire gravel routes

I’ve plotted a couple of routes of my own in the area generally accessible from the Forth Road Bridge e.g. Dunfermline/Saline/Cleish + Blairadam/Cowdenbeath and Aberdour.

Problem is I’m a man of limited riding opportunities so don’t want to waste a precious 4hr window discovering my plotted route is rubbish.

Any good established routes or recommendations?

Ta

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1125079?units=km

Can’t help with Stirling area apart from Aberfoyle which has loads of options. If you are looking for something in Perthshire I’ve put together the above gpx

200km and 4,000m of climbing? He’ll easily be able to smash that out in 4 hours

Yea obviously you HAVE to do the complete route. And not just adjust it to suit🙄

Thanks both, Mashr your confidence in my abilities is flattering! 😉

Robbie, will file that for future adventures, in-laws live nr Dunblane so Crieff/Callander/Killin/Glen Almond all within big day distance.

Think I’ll need to use some morning rides to explore sections closer to Dunfermline/Queensferry area

The Fife Pilgrim Way is a good day out 👍

13thfloor – I’m sure you know about/have posted before the Callander to Comrie track along the Ruchil, you can return one valley South from Braco to Callander via the wind farm. I think we’re off to do it this week. I’ve walked and cycled it all, just not in one go.

Fife Coastal path is good on a gravel/CX bike. You can get up to Blairadam virtually off road from the bridge: coastal path from NQ to Inverkeithing – Letham Hill – Fordell Woods – tracks past old open cast mine to Crossgates – tracks up through St Ninians to Kelty and Blairadam. Quite a few trails once there and it’s easy enough to link it with stuff at Lochore Meadows. Nice up and over to Loch Leven where you’ve got 13miles of flat gravel round the Loch.

You can get up to Blairadam virtually off road from the bridge: coastal path from NQ to Inverkeithing – Letham Hill – Fordell Woods – tracks past old open cast mine to Crossgates – tracks up through St Ninians to Kelty and Blairadam

Thanks Shortbread, that’s the stuff I had my eye on, good to know it’s worthwhile.

Keep us posted, I’d be interested in some routes easily accessible from the Forth Road bridge. I’m pretty clued up south of the river and have ridden in Fife and Perth & Kinross in past (has been a while) but always good to expand my knowledge as Fife seems to be full of back roads and paths that I’ve not tried yet.

I’m quite excited for when my new Trek Crockett frame arrives and is built up as I fancy doing something like 100km – mostly easy – off-road route.

Was going to suggest the same as shortbread, great route I do often from Dalgety Bay, 30miles from front door with about 1mile on the roads. Link up with moss plantation from cowdenbeath, go down past chicken farm then up through cullaloe.
The 2 bridge cx is great route, fife coastal path to kelpies then back along john muir way. Good gravel bit between grangemouth and bo’ness to keep you off the road, turn off by scottish water sign after grangemouth. Extend the route by doing loop through dalmeny estate to crammond.
Another is coastal path to kinghorn then through golf course and up the binn hill then onto cullaloe or go straight on at dunearn and through farm back to coastal path/aberdour.

Link up with moss plantation from cowdenbeath, go down past chicken farm then up through cullaloe.

There appears to be two tracks cutting through Mossmorran from Crossgates, taking in bits of the ‘Old North Road’ and Wester and Easter Lochhead farms, are these passable? I always get twitchy around industrial areas, don’t want to end up trudging through toxic sludge!

@matt_outandabout
Don’t suppose you’ve got a route for that Callendar to Comrie and back ride have you? I’ve been looking to so do something similar , but wasn’t sure if all the track actually joined up.

I’d be interested in that as well.

I’ll see what I can do…

https://www.strava.com/routes/2708411303184137600

Pretty certain this is the loop matt_outandabout is talking about. I’m most familiar with the Comrie – Callander section (even fleetingly held the KOM 🙁 ) which is great, a gradual but very nice tarmac climb into Glen Artney turns to gravel then descends beside the Bracklinn, eventually becoming steep tarmac but looks like there’s options to cross the Bracklinn and descend tracks on the other side…

Edit: if you don’t mind skipping the nice tarmac descent into Comrie you could cut left to join the upper reaches of Findhu Glen. It’s a brief bog trot when you leave Langside Road then becomes some nice singletrack before broadening into double track. Adds some offroad miles and spares you some descent and re-ascent on tarmac.

That’s the one…