staying there for a week and will be taking a bike for a few rides.
Apart from the trail centres close by is there any other recommended riding in the area or even better from the town itself ?

thanks in advance

Cairnsmore of fleet is well worth taking the MTB up, cracking hill with views to Arran, Ben Lomond, the lakeland fells, NI and isle of man.

Isn’t Kirroughtree or Dalbeattie near there

do you like hundreds of miles of empty gravel roads?
Or hundreds of miles of near-empty tarmac roads?

Also as has already been said, Cairnsmore is a big hill you can ride up and down.

Cairnsmore route- is it the obvious trail from the SW side on the OS maps, starting up from the farm of that name, push up and straight back down again? Anyone actually done it?

Done the cairnsmore of fleet hundreds of times over the past 20+ years and it’s rideable on sections on the climb up and entirely rideable on the way down, can be very fast on the descent. One way up and down from the farm at bottom.

Good paths around the Cally palace woods in gatehouse, certainly enough for a couple of hours exploration and nice trail along to sandgreen/carrick shoreline from same woods, good trails in carstramon woods out the lauriston rd nr gatehouse

You’ll probably need an OS map for this; it is fairly scenic, and straightforward ride, starting on road, then forestry tracks, but away from everything.

Take the small roads (Old Military Road / B796) up behind Gatehouse-of-Fleet towards the old railway line; follow that or the road East to Water of Fleet viaduct, crossing at the ford below. Follow forestry roads North past Loch Skerrow, to the A712 SW of Clatteringshaws loch.

From there you can do a loop coming back to the A712. Go round Clatteringshaws to the N end, E route is more attractive, W is shorter; take the Old Edinburgh Road North of Clatteringshaws, then loop round on paths to the A712 just E of Murrays Monument and Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall on your right.

The latter sections are quite pretty.

Pretty close to Kirroughtree here.