Golfie v Dunkeld

Golfie = Samey, in a good way

Dunkeld = Variety, in a good way

Both awesome but very much a case of personal taste as to what's best.

What did you particularly enjoy at Golfie?

I live and ride in the Tweed Valley.
I've been to Dunkeld/Pitlochry a few times. I've just got back from a few days there.

Dunkeld offers less grip in the wet and the trails are more spread out. Generally less steep but more rooty and rocky.

I like it there but I'm glad I live here.

Have you tried other places in the valley?

If you've already ridden at Inners and haven't been to Dunkeld then it's definitely worth a visit. As Stu says it's a bit more spread out but the riding is great and the scenery is pretty special, more chance of seeing a red squirrel too.

Thanks for the replies. We've ridden at most places in the valley, but not Yair. Favourite for me is Underdog, maybe just looking for something thats not quite so we'll ridden. Dunkeld sounds right, any stand out trails to look for.

Dunkeld, hands down. More rock, more variety, more natural feel, better scenery, nicer village and it's easier to put together a ride that feels like a ride rather than a session.

The good thing about Dunkeld is that each hill has a different feel. We did a pick and mix yesterday, but we did take the rain that had fallen overnight into consideration.

What other trails do you enjoy at Golfie and I can probably give some pointers as to what to try for trip one..

What other trails do you enjoy at Golfie and I can probably give some pointers as to what to try for trip one..

We like all of Golfie.....although Wolfinator in the wet was....interesting and probably only 75 % rideable for me.

 

Cool. How many days are you looking at for Dunkeld, what sort of distance and elevation is comfortable?

Will give a few pointers but Adam at the shop will also chat through a few options if you were in town anyway

Underdog

Ha ha, one of the few I haven't ridden, not been recently. Can't compare.

Here's a wee summary I did a couple of years ago. Only update is that I believe the food van has moved from the station to town car park.

Dunkeld is an amazing location with 4 entirely different hills.

Birnam Hill has a great wee warm up area around Electric Beaver and Dougs and Dan’s. Fun mellow built trails. 15minute laps. Then head up to top for Rake and Ruin or Pink Floyd. R and R probably best red in the country IMHO and pretty weatherproof. Pink Floyd also good but trickier in the wet.

Craigvinnean is great but steep technical and hard in the wet, takes a long time to dry! Classic runs are Cairn to Cottage which is hard (and a mission to get to) but OK in wet. Or Commit cry into bambis facts and 9.8, defo more fun in the dry. DH area and life insurance etc are proper serious but great if you like steep rock features. Further up towards Dalguise there are some newer runs which are good fun and some proper long trail sequences.

Atholl Hill goes from the sublime (Yer maw area, twas dugs, cave pass) to the ridiculous (precious, rock hudson). Lots of loam, roots and just the right amount of rock. Probably my favourite Hill. Also worth heading up to Loch Ordie for a bimble/picnic and the wee trails up that way are remarkably good and less travelled.

The Mast is steep, pretty techy with rock and root drops a plenty. OK in the wet. The climb straight from the bottom is brutal, better to go up from Town.

Parking/starting lots of folk use the Station and there is a great food van there now. Can also park in town or at Hermitage. Lots of good cafe/deli type places in Dunkeld and Birnam including a bake off winner! There’s a lovely wee garden to sit and eat in by the bike shop off the main St.

Several days or weeks of fun to be had. Great to either stuck to one hill for the day or try a four corners challenge. When moving between areas use Riverside where possible, its lovely. Also a wee xc gem between bottom of R and R and back to the station.

Enjoy when you get there.

Go to Dunkeld purely for the Sausage rolls and empire biscuits at Livvis Little Lunchbox. Top of the high street on the right. Thank me later.

As someone who has ridden at both places for a long time, I'd say the golfie is better by a good margin at the moment. Why? Because there are so many trails, which have tons of variety for all abilities and they're constantly being fettled by the locals/trail associations so they're kept in good nick.

Once upon a time, I'd have said dunkeld was better as I prefer the terrain and the more "raw" nature of the trails, but have been left dissapointed the last few times I've been up. Tons of them were overgrown, rutty with poor drainage and tons of fallen trees that haven't been cleared, especially since storm arwen.

I'm not sure if the trail builders up there have moved out of the area/moved on and there is no one looking after the trails, but most trails on all 4 hills (think the ones at the mast have been tidied up though) are in various states of disrepair and stagnation, which is a great shame.

Thanks for all the replies some fab info there. The weather is starting to make this feel more like a punishment than a holiday so we may run away and return in October.