I’m off to with the family to Dalbeattie next week

I’m hopping that my son (14) and I will ride these three reds together over the week. Hopefully daughter (11) and niece (12) will join us for some of this.

It would be handy to have an idea of realitve effort required on each. I suppose we’ll start easier and get harder.

The Hard Rock Trail at Dalbeattie is longest (but less single track) and is guide time 1.5 to 3 hours. So thats the hardest

THe other two are 1-2 hours

The phoenix trail at Mabie 19Km so thats the next hardest?

Leaving 17 km trail at Kirroughtree as the easist?

I assume that like most trail centres even though they the trails will be running with water there will be a hard surface underneath so tyre choice isn’t that crucial

As the name suggests the dalbeattie red is the most technical – rocky, in my opinion which might make it a slower( longer ) ride for the youngsters. Take it steady and they can always dismount on the techy bits. They should have no problem at the other 2, and they flow better meaning you can maintain good speeds all round. BUT everyone will have differant opinions on all 3 – theyll be along shortly !

Mabie is the easiest. No hugely long climbs, more of a rolling route. Nothing overly technical either. It’s the least exposed as well.
Dalbeattie in the middle. Longer climbs and rockier section, good fun though. Plenty of scope for short cuts if you get tired, a lot of the section come close to each other.
Kirroughtree the toughest. Longest climbs and fewer points to bail if you get tired.
Don’t forget Drumlanrig. Great for families and newer riders but still a rooty challenge for experienced riders.

Not heard of Drumlanrig looks good

cheers folks all opinions greatfully recieved

I’m assuming at Dalbeattie that we avoid the black bits

Ae also offers a good red ride. Longer perhaps but nothing too severe. The final part is, however, shared with the DH but all obstacles can be rolled. Great fun to be had.

You can easily avoid the black bits at Dalbeattie.

I rode them a couple of months back, I wouldn’t take young kids on the reds, and really not the black routes, but that might be just me , too technical if they are not used to it, if your lad is on a good bike and is capable I don’t doubt he would be fine.

Drumlanrig is superb… Dalbeattie, mmm, I liked it but I thought the parts that made it stand out were all black, I don’t see me ever just doing the red there.

Kirroughtree’s red is mostly pretty straightforward- a couple of rock features that could catch people out but other than that the challenge mostly comes from speed IMO. 9/10ths or more of it could be graded blue IMO. Not a criticism btw.

Jeffus its a fair point

14 year old is fine. He’s done a fair bit of red trails at trail centres, he’s riding fairly regularlt now. Best of all he thinks things through and in general is good at assesing risk and being confident and cautous as appropiate

12 year old niece has ridden some bmx and in general has good skills and fitness. She’s a bit accident prone

the worry is my eleven year old daughter. She’s done a few blues and bits at Coed y Brenin. We meant to do the Cyflym coch but ended up doing Bugsy rather than Uncle Fester. In many ways her skills were great. Straight down the Pink Heifer screaming here head off didn’t dab at the stream crossing. Trouble is I think she’s to fast for her skills. But she fell off at Woburn a few weeks back and I’m hopping she may have learnt a lesson from that. She also now has alonger stem to slow down her steering a bit

Are these trails harder than the reds at Coed y Brenin?

I’m hoping that 11 tear old will do the red at Mabie then want to miss the other 2 or just do the taster routes. Mabie looks in the videos like the blue at Llandgella but narrower?

Northwing thats sort of what I hoped. In which case I think both girls could do Kirroughtree as well. Presumably the hard bits are signed or obvious?

From what I remember, not much is signposted but most is obvious. If they don’t pay attention they could get caught out though

Thanks Northwind

they’ll be fine if they know to keep a look out…..

Dalbeattie is fairly rough (in parts) for a red – plenty of places were a beginner would be dismounting. Nothing massive, just awkward rocks. Mabie is miles smoother. Saying that, I rode DB quite a bit on holiday and saw loads of families riding round of similar composition to yours, so I guess you can take it at your own pace.

I was mincing at the top of the Slab at DB hemming and hawing over it, honestly not fancying it too much. Saw a family arrive at the bottom of it, and then their 12 yo son rode up beside me and told me it was easy – just don’t brake too hard, before riding straight down it. Just the does of MTFU required, so I followed him down. Thanks, kid.

I felt that they were more technical than Coed y Brenin for more of the trail, my daughter used to ride to quick for her abilities , kept trying to get her to think, then in France she binned it stitches and bruising all over , with body armour etc, not nice to see your kid so battered. She won’t ride anymore, she was 15 at the time.

Our teenage girls opinions are Kirroughtree is the best, they have ridden the blue (good for a 1st day ride, to get everyone back in the swing of things) and red, which you can shorten to about 10km if you wanted/needed to and just do just the second half. Mabie is ‘boring’ apparently and we have only done the blue at Dalbeatie with them, which is mainly doubletrack and not much fun.

bring them up to Drumlanrig, the trails are a stacked loop system which means you can do the blue and pick and choose bits of red.

I usually recomend that for a first lap, use the blue to get up to the top, then do the ‘Whirley Birley’ and Farthingbank Loch loops, you can then choose whether to stick on the blue or opt in to more red as you descend to the River Nith. If they find that easy then head back out and do the the first half of the red (more rooty and technical) followed by the the half way bail out to bring you back to the castle on our XC race route finish.

Pop into the shop for a map and a blether and all will become clear.

The Castle has a whole lot more to offer a family visit than your average midgy ridden FE car park, with an adventure playground, vistor centre, bike museum, nature walks and a big old stately hoose to wander round if it takes yer fancy…

FWIW,
I was up in the Stanes 2 weeks ago riding DB, Mabie, AE and Glentress – had a blast. As a comparitor I tend to ride the welsh centres (Cwmwarn, Afan, CYB, Landegla, Mach..). I’d agree that Mabie is the most accessible for families, DB I think is alright but you do have to watch out for the odd rocky section in addition to the black options. My knee and shoulder are still healing from taking a double drop off way too quickly as I hadn’t spotted it! All things can be dismounted as well and to be honest I climb like a mountain goat but struggle with technical stuff! Been a while since I did Kirro. so can’t quite recall. I’d also recommend Ae as definitely worth a visit – it’s not far from DB/Mabie. I also think red in Scotland is slightly more techy than Wales.
Have fun!

Jeffus

under the circumstancs I think you’ve done well to keep it a calm warning. We’ll just take it day by day when we get their starting at Mabie then maybe

Looks like we’ll try Drumlanrig as well. The biking is just the parking charge?

Can’t comment on Drum. but for the others, yes just a parking charge – £2 / £3 for the day.

Kirroughtree would be my choice for you guys. Enough fun to blast around, enough to push your skill levels without needing to lose your marbles. It also has the McMoab if you want to show off to your kids – or demonstrate why all bikers should wear a helmet.

I believe there is a killer loop around Galloway Forest too if your offspring start to do your head in – that should silence them!

Have a fun time, don’t forget to take any prescriptions for medicines with you (free in Scotland) and next time you go, you may need your passport.

when at Kirry make a day of it and visit here
here after Mabie

DB/Mabie and Kirrie car parks are £2 per day… Drumlanrig car park charges are a bit hit and miss.. some attendants charge you £5 per car others charge £5 per head!!
To me the trails at Mabie and uppy downy with a few good sections…Dalbeattie has chicken runs for the techy sections, be mindfull at “Moyles Magic” as that can catch out the unwary, as you will come over a rocky section and then you are full pelt down a steep rocky section..

Kirrie is fun and has chicken runs round the black sections…you will all have a blast at all the trails… have fun and enjoy yourselves… 8)

Take kids round them quite a bit with club, some as young as 8.
You can ride ahead, identify any hazard you think your child/ren may struggle on, stop and session 😆
Dalbeattie is probably the most intimidating for newbies and the inexperienced or those who ride in areas where there are no rocks/boulders to ride over.
They are all rideable regardless of weather 😆
Dalbeattie;

I’m just coming to the end of a weeks holiday in D&G. I rode Dalbeattie at the start of the week and Kirroughtree today.

Dalbeattie was ok but just as you thought it was starting to flow you hit a rocky section that kills your speed and it’s quite technical for a red route (well maybe its just me needing to get my nerve back after a fractured wrist). It does feel like you are going up hill alot and that you are just aimlesley going about the forest.

Kirroughtree today was very different. The centre is great, and the riding IMO is much more fun. The red just flows and even has some nice climbing sections. I did the loop on to the black and half wish I had just done the red as that would have been a nice fast loop.

The black does dissapoint at first and basically the section up to McMoab just appears as though they havent got round to building the trail yet. The decent back down on the black is fantastic! Odly I thought 99% of the black was tamer than the red at Dalbeattie.

Yeah, Kirrie black is a weird one in parts isn’t it? Glad you had a good time though.

I’ll be up there in a few weeks hopefully, should be fun!