Off to Newton Stewart – Midgie, trails, grading & food questions.

We’ve booked a cottage in Creetown for a week playing around on the bikes and general touristy stuff.

Very excited as not been to that part of Scotland before and heard great things about the place, but got a few questions:

Planning on using Avon Skin So Soft as a midge repellent but not bought any for years and the packaging has changed – which one do we need?
Assume the midges are lethal in that area at this time of year, anyone got any recent experiences?

Secondly, how do Scottish gradings compare to English/Welsh ones?
We’re usually happy on red routes, will we find the 7 Stanes reds (Kirroughtree in particular), comparable?
Seem to remember someone saying Scottish reds came with added McGnar.

And if anyone has any tips for natural rides in the area, or can point us in the direction of a decent guidebook, would be very grateful, ta.

And lastly, any tips for nice pubs, restaurants or must do touristy stuff in the area?

Thanks in advance.

DEET every bit of yourself you can see; don’t forget the back of your legs, neck, and ears. Wouldn’t bother with Avon stuff, DEET isn’t intrinsically harmful unless you actually drink the stuff or like wearing nylon.

Kirroughtree is great – the black isn’t tough from a technical point of view and easily rideable if you can do the red.

For Skin so Soft, you want the “Dry Oil Body Spray” – the blue one. Remember that it’s not a repellant and you need to apply a thick enough layer to drown the buggers on contact.

I’ve been trying Smidge this year and early indications are that is is very effective indeed.

I was riding Kielder Red today and if that’s an example of “English” grading then you’ll find any 7 Stanes Red a huge step up in terms of technicality.

We’re just back from camping in Creetown this week and there were hardly any midges. Were there at the start of July as well and they were bad in the forest in a couple of places, but only if you stood still and taunted them. K’tree was no problem, so don’t worry about the midges. Rain on the other hand………
K’tree red is fine in terms of grade, though there are some wheel catching rocks to look out for. The black isn’t really any more technical I don’t think.

Cheers for the advice.

I don’t use DEET anymore after melting a Citroen dashboard, a pen and a nice waterproof jacket last time I tried it.
Will give Smidge a go.

Have used SSS in the past and found it effective, but just couldn’t remember which one it was.

As for gradings, will try the Larg Hill blue trail before we try the red.

EDIT: Boxelder, just read your post – that’s very reassuring indeed, ta.
We’re in Creetown as well – did you try the pubs?

Second the use of Smidge – less unpleasant than both DEET and Avon stuff.

Dalbeattie is IMHO a better red than Kirroughtree, and I disagree that the k’tree black isn’t more technical than the red.

IIRC you can hire canoes and whatnot on Loch Ken, which can be great fun, and there’s lots of RSPB stuff about to go and look at.

The Cream O Galloway factory near Gatehouse of Fleet is another must-visit (take your bike).

did you try the pubs?

Nope – three under 7’s meant beer al fresco – so lucky ’bout the midges!

Can’t say I’ve noticed much diff between grading scottish/engish/welsh, it all tends to be equally slightly adhock. There does seem to be added confusion caused by some routes being graded red/black for distance without appearing anymore technically difficult, but that’s nationwide and everything can be bypassed/walked anyway. IMO the black at kirri is no more technically difficult than the red if you miss out Mcmoab (just continue up the fire road), infact the black is a must do really. Dalbeattie red is a fave of mine too, it seems to get mixed responses tho.

If you fancy a few separate hours playing on Mcmoab, get a trail map for kirri, you should be able to work out where you can drive to it.

Kirroughtree black is best ride of the seven stanes!
Ask the girls in the shop to recommend a pub / restaurant.

dont forget the blue run up at glentrool it’s not remotely challenging but it’s a nice ride all the same.

St ninians cave if it’s a sunny day, stunning hideaway beach, bout 30 mins from Newton, also Kircudbright tattoo but think you might be a little too early for that! Was in a place called port William for the last week in August last yr and not a single bite for us.

give me a shout if you fancy a “locals” tour of Dalbeattie or Mabie, just an hour back along the road from Creetown.
Not been to Kirry in ages so could come up for a ride.

I was up in that area for a weeks holiday in mid July and these are my thoughts. We stayed near Kirkcudbright, pretty central between Dalbeattie and Kirroughtree.

I was only just back on the bike after a wrist fracture so perhaps not riding at my best in terms of confidence…

I rode Dalbeattie red first and found it OK, but it just didnt flow. Just as you got going there would be a rock step that killed your speed, and you just appeared to rome aimlesley through the forrest. I would say the rock steps made it a black rather than red.

Kirroughtree – Much more ‘in the hills’ than Dalbeattie. Great location, nice cafe and kids play area. The red was fantastic, very flowing, great climbs and decents. I linked it in to the black and wish I had just ridden the red and then maybe the black loop another day. The red by itself is just a good fast enjoyable loop.

The black was a bit dissapointing to some extent. On the whole not really more technically difficult (again apart from rock steps) would be the equivalent of Dalbeattie red. However you leave the red and then just ride fire road for ages and ages, which is a shame because the decent back down on the black is great.

I didnt find midgies to be a problem at either place, and that was riding after heavy rain.

Coincidentally, I’ve just got back from a few days camping up there with family.
Kirroughtree is mainly fast and flowy rather than anything technical and the black is just longer rather than harder than the red but is definately worth doing, if only for McMoab which is an interesting novelty.
I lap of the black takes about 3 hrs and is definately more fun on an XC hardtail IMHO.

I did meet a couple of riders near Heartbreak Hill on Thursday afternoon who warned about the midges but I seemed to have escaped being attacked. 🙂

+ 1 for visit to St Ninian’s Cave

The coast around Kipford and Rockliffe is nice too.

Hope that helps

And if anyone has any tips for natural rides in the area, or can point us in the direction of a decent guidebook, would be very grateful, ta.

No guide books, tis all a bit boggy around that area. Having said that speak to young Dave or Sam at the Breakpad if you fancy a hikea`bike trip they sometimes do.
Davy-g has a Southern Upland Way route he and his mates do from Stanraer.
If you are familiar with the Kippford/Rockcliffe area there is a coastal path along to Sandyhills, a bit hikeabike so if you are not into that then do not try it. Can be added onto the Dalbeattie trail from Colvend.

I enjoy Dalbeattie but have been riding there since before the Stanes and before there were any “legal” trails. Quite a bit of the trail uses sections we used to ride. It needs commitment to just go for it.
Dalbeattie was/is also the very 1st 7Stanes trail built by the D&G team. The team built this trail using hand tools, wheel barrows etc with very little in the way of mechanised machinery used until they were trained to use motorised barrows. It is easy to criticise but that was 10yrs ago when no-one had any idea of what trailbuilding was about. I remember a discussion between the guys from Coed y Brenin and Andy Hopkins which went along the lines of “what you are trying to do cannot be done” … they were very surprised that it was done 💡
If you ever ride down Jacobs ladder again just stop and think about how much effort went into building that piece of trail(story behind that as well 😉 )
There is no height in Dalbeattie compared to say Glentress or Innerliethen so if it is speed that rocks your boat then I can understand your dislike. Personally I prefer the D&G Stanes to the borders trails. It is also just as easy from us to head down the Lakes rather than GT