Glentress or Innerleithen?

off up to scotland this weekend with a mate of mine to do one of the above..

any recommendations as to which is best?? or are we better off looking at something less manmade in the area? bearing in mind we arent mega fit! i like playing on DH type trails but my mate isnt quite so brave!

and any recommended campsites? 🙂

thanks in advance!!

In a weekend there is plenty of time to do both. which is best? Its a question of preference. I prefer glentress myself as IMO you get more time downhill for the climbing involved and for the variety of trails. I sure someone will explain why Innerleithan is better 🙂

Innerleithen by a country mile. The XC route is excellent, with black and red options in places so you'll both be kept happy.

and of course, don't forget the black route at G-T, lots of lovely singletrack.

(this message issued in accordance with Singletrackworld.com standard practise when discussing relative merits of Glentress Vs Innerleithen – thankyou)

bearing in mind we arent mega fit!

I'd suggest GT red.

Innerleithen might be a touch better but you have a long climb to the top to start with. Depends if you're being modest or not on the fitness front…

for a one off run I would say Innerleithan. But it really depends how unfit you are. the climb at Inners is a killer if you are unfit. There are about a Dozen step ups at teh second section of uphill and teh climb at Minch Moor is a long but deserving one. I prefer the downhill at Inners although Spooky Wood at GT is great fun. GT is more for "everyone" where as I would say Inners can be a bit trickier on both the up and downhill.

at an unfit pace, do inners at 9am – 12pm, drive to Glen T, have lunch then do Glen T black 1pm – 4pm. Thats a slow pace time guide, means you get both in and if you feel like it do Glen T red 5pm – 7pm. Job done, sorted

Inners for me, GT is to 'smoothed' out now for any type of challange, unless you do the Black which is still a great ride.

But it's a personal choice, but do both if your up for the weekend, ENJOY 8)

by unfit i mean we both did the red route at dalby and where utterly shattered afterwards!!

sounds like innerleithen might be more our style..! and combine that with the red (or possibly black if we are still able to move our legs after the red at Innerleithen) route at glentress

I would take a look at the map and figure out how to get the best out of Innerleithen.

I am away to Moray this weekend or I would have shown you round the place.

personally i much prefer Glentress to Innerleithen. Dunno why, just do.

Inners for me. The red trail is (IMO) the best single trail in the UK.

i'd do both if you can fit it in. Inners has a pretty long climb for the first half, and is then mainly downhill with a climb towards the end. You have the option of missing out some of the xc route and doing the DH runs, which is what i do – you can push back up, or ride on the fireroad if you have a map.

As for Glentress, you can mix and match on this – get a map and opt for bits you like the sound of – my fave is up the black to the bottom of the boundary trail, up to red to do spooky wood (lots of berms and jumps) and then down the red, coming back up to do electric blue which is fab. lots of climbing on this but brilliant descents (imo) 🙂

You will not go wrong doing either, but sounds like you have plenty of time to do both, as they are only about 15 minutes drive away from each other.

Enjoy.

Buy a map and go do a proper ride in the hills. Great cross border route out lined in WhatMTB this month and Scotland has such great access laws that the world of trails is your oyster. Adventures live longer in the mind than a day of following arrows in the woods.

We did some of the black and then the red descent at GT the other week. Nice route, mixes the best of both, nice singletrack and bmx style trailcentre. Innerleithen is short and the climb gives me nightmares after the Merida.

Adventures live longer in the mind than a day of following arrows in the woods.

I like those words, and definitely think they ring true.

Gypsy Glen followed by Glentress Black until halfway down Deliverance would be an option, you can start it in the carpark at Innerleithen then head out to Traquair from there. The benefit of starting here is that you can choose how much of Glentress to do after you've done the Glen depending on fitness as you can roll round the fire road if you're knackered, or even do the whole way back from Peebles on the road.

Now seriously… "If you're not very fit, do GT black and innerleithen red in one day". That's not advice, that's piss taking.

They're both ace… For some reason, it seems to be pretty popular on here to pretend that Glentress red is just a smooth path without anything to challenge anyone. Never understood that, when people say it's "smooth" I wonder if they've actually ridden there, there's parts of the red that look like they've been shelled. Innerleithen's surface is probably smoother in fact (less traffic) GT red's not tech, it's mostly built for speed and I think that's part of it, if you ride it slow there's not much challenge/peril.

For me, I think Innerleithen red is probably better, but GT red or black are both more fun. But it depends how you get your fun of course, we don't all want the same thing from a trail. I love all 3 mind. Doubt you'll regret whichever one you choose.

Never done Innerleithen but thoroughly enjoyed Glentress, might be consisdered a bit of a BMX track by some in parts and certainly has a man made feel. But it's the best example of MTB man made you'll find IMO, credit to the trail fairies.

Spooky Woods and Magic Mushroom have the biggest grin factor I've ever experienced at any trail centre, and that's what I went for not the scenery. Can't say you need to be that fit or brave, just have decent brakes.

I love the descent from Minch Moor on the red route – absolutely fantastic piece of singletrack, but then Glentress is also amazing.

The glentress red followed by the Inners red is doable in a day – I did it last month on the last day after we were all shattered from 3 days riding. Just pace yourself, plenty of fluids and take a long break between the two.

IIRC Glentress red took around 3 hours and inners red was shorter.

Here's a glentress video of the descent from spooky wood down to the hub if it helps you make up your mind.

Did both the reds (glentress & inners) last weekend.Enjoyed both but if push comes to shove i'd say i liked inners better.You will have a blast whichever one you choose :mrgreen:.And this is coming from someone who is not normaly a fan of trail centers.

Glentress is better for beginners and can produce some rapid progression for people looking to improve their skills. Blue run down from the Buzzards nest is my favourite with lots of flowy jumps and drop offs but…

…inners is the plums! Traquair XC (red) is good but the real fun can be had at Caddon bank, truly great fun with some real fast floaty step downs and drops. To improve the inners experience further you're best heading up to the top of "make or brake" DH trail which features big wide jumps and great flowy lines before joining at the top of Caddon bank again. 8)

Cresta run is a good test as well but if you're really brave then go try the Matador, a truly scary experience but so rewarding when you get it right. The signature matador drop takes my breath away every time and the coffin jump's a giggle as well. 😀

INNERS!

Rosetta campsite in Peebles. Loads of bikes & seems secure.
If your there 2 days, do a shortened black route & red at GT (day 1) then the red/black at Inners (day 2). I had the best 2 days riding every earlier this year even though I had a spill 50m from the bottom of Cadon Bank at Inners (a very sore drive home).
Be prepared for drops, rocks and sketchy berms once you head down at Inners 😈