[Closed] Dalbeattie any good?

It's a great trail and we'll worth the effort.

Very.

Very very

The first 50% is great, some challenging technical rocky sections and then they either ran out of ideas, money, time or effort. It turns in to barely undulating green graded trail that seems to never end.

Probably worth a trip as it's better than not riding and the first half is truly great.

The first 50% is great, some challenging technical rocky sections and then they either ran out of ideas, money, time or effort. It turns in to barely undulating green graded trail that seems to never end

Pish.

It's quite pedally, maybe the poster above thinks it 'never ends' as he was blowing out his arse. I've not ridden it for ages, but it used to be my default trail centre, Love the amount of sections you can session, good off piste too, and the anchor inn afterward for a pint of prawns.

Sweet.

It's good. lots of tricky rocks. Bit different to other trail centres.

It turns in to barely undulating green graded trail that seems to never end.

So you missed all the features near the end then?

the anchor inn afterward

This x 1000

Thanks chaps. Will give it a whirl

Good fun, good riding. I like it

Superb trail lots of interesting bits.

number18 - Member
The first 50% is great, some challenging technical rocky sections and then they either ran out of ideas, money, time or effort. It turns in to barely undulating green graded trail that seems to never end.

Probably worth a trip as it's better than not riding and the first half is truly great.

Bit of a history lesson 😉
This was the first of the 7Stanes built by the D&G crew(ignore GT & Inners). You need to go way back to the F&M outbreak that devastated the area and realise that other than Mabie there were no other way marked mtb trails in the area.
The crew that built Dalbeattie spent a week with Daffyd Davies MBE @ Coed y Brenin learning how to build trails. With advice from him, Gogs and Pete Laing the guys employed managed to build that trail by hand. By hand I mean pick, shovel and wheelbarrow!! It wasn't till near the end that some of the guys had been trained to use motorised wheelbarrows. The trail is afik still the most expensive £ per metre of ant Stane!!
Other Stanes(Ae)suffered as a consequence 🙄
Some of what was eventually built was deemed impossible by the Welsh crew 😉

The guys building the trail comprised of ex bankers, dry Stane dykers, carpenters and an ex fireman who made some of the tools 🙂

ticsmon - Member
Thanks chaps. Will give it a whirl

Magic. Be sure to visit Brambles cafe, just outside the trailhead 😆
Basically you need to put a bit of effort into getting something out of the trail. Bit of a slog out to the Moyle where it starts to get interesting the Scree slope can be fun! Then follows a nice flowy bit punctuated by a stiff climb up past Moby Dick. A tricky, narrow section with a few boulders to negotiate before the climb up through Bluebell Wood and views over Kipford follows. Then it's the Slab or the red route bypass which has eroded into a nice bit of track 😆

Could do you a "locals" tour on Wed?

Local bike shop could hook you up with someone; http://www.mpgcyclesonline.co.uk
Other bike shops in Castle Douglas; Velo Cycles, CD Cycles and Next Level Cycles.

maybe the poster above thinks it 'never ends' as he was blowing out his arse.

Nope, went from there to Ae, then Kirroughtree the next day.

It does have a fair bit of fire road to close and iirc there's a couple of sections it shares with the blue but I don't really get where number18 is coming from tbh- really good place to ride, finishes off nicely with the big rock features and volunteer ridge and that. I like it anyway. And there's a bunch of nice off-piste stuff that you can add to it which trekster was kind enough to show us.

number18 - Member
maybe the poster above thinks it 'never ends' as he was blowing out his arse.
Nope, went from there to Ae, then Kirroughtree the next day.

POSTED 9 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

All depends on fitness and experience 💡
We all like different things. ie I don't care for Inners, GT is fun but I prefer the D&G Stanes.

I am obviously biased living in Dumfries, within biking distance of both Ae and Mabie 😆

It's a proper trail using many areas that were used for local xc races back in the very early 90's, lots of good off-piste stuff as well - i'm sure trekster would oblige to show you the sketchy stuff 😉

http://bikeeventsscotland.com/event/sxc-round-2-dalbeattie-galloway/

I had a very short trip there a couple or years back. I filmed this on the skills loop, then rode the red. Quite enjoyed it to be honest, but I was sleep deprived thanks to our new born.

The slab is terrifying. Someone filmed me on it but they never sent the clip - nothing more scary than a 3m run off when you're out of control!

I have done it a few times but it is my least favourite Stane. It may be because I head butted a rock on my first visit! I much prefer Mabie which may not be a popular choice!

I like it and don't visit enough. It's pretty awesome on a full on XC bike if you're giving it large. I think it was the last time I was there I absolutely crashed my brains out STRAVAing with faulty brakes...

It is fantastic, definitely worth a visit.

Ticsmon, any idea when you intend to ride? I have a cottage just down the road and will be there next week. Let me know if you fancy some company.

Sorry dogsby only just seen your post. Went yesterday (Thursday) and some company would have been good. Really enjoyed it, did the slab watched by a few locals Who I thought had done it only to find out all but 1 had bottled it. Will try and put some pics up later

Good stuff, glad you enjoyed it.

Trekster

[i]Magic. Be sure to visit Brambles cafe, just outside the trailhead [/i]

Been before and ended up in Dalbeattie at a café on the High St, but haven't the van so would rather somewhere we can park near - where are they?

b r. The cafe is at the car park. Behind the toilets sort of. From the toilets just walk towards the road and it's to the right. Looks like you're going into someones house and the cafe is in the conservatory. Hope that makes sense

I didn't really like it (only ridden about 6 yrs ago) tame single track to very rocky step up or down to single track repeat. No views. But like sherwood pines

Much prefer kirrough

Tiscsmon,

Sorry to have missed you. What time were you there? I did a loop of the red on Thu morning starting at about 0830. I haven't been there for a while but it was excellent.

Dogsby

Only got there about 12. If you don't enjoy it in that weather then you'd never enjoy it.[URL= http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/stevenpownall/DSC_0252_zpswacwmreu.jp g" target="_blank">http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/stevenpownall/DSC_0252_zpswacwmreu.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Well worth pushing/climbing back up after you do the slab and doing the chicken run too, it's a lovely bit of rocky singletrack. I usually do both but tbh if i did the loop more often I don't think I'd bother with the slab as it's a wee bit of a one trick pony, I'd do the chicken run most times!