[Closed] Golspie, Laggan, other - weekend Highland trip

If you're knackered, spend a few hours doing all the wee trails around Aviemore - as few or as many as you can manage, with plenty of food stops nearby

Thanks Alasdair,

We'll have our maps but any hints on routes or areas to head to? I've never ridden around there - only walked up and over the Cairngorms. Should we just head to Bothy Bikes?

Matt

scuttler - you'll find a couple of Aviemore options on here: http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/p/routes.html

Shameless bump for the daytime crowd.

Slght hijack,

Have you got a GPX for the lollipop route please mate.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209357681

Cant seem to get the GPX from that though.

Scotroutes, I get a pageful of broken code from the Rothiemurcus link, maybe it's just me though...

Laggan has all the trailcentre advantages- totally simple to navigate, very compact, expand or contract the ride as much as you want. That's pretty good if you want an easy day, imo. Throw in the trails over the road under the fort if you want to get out of the trailcentre. I quite often stop there when I'm in transit just for simplicity.

[quote=Northwind ]Scotroutes, I get a pageful of broken code from the Rothiemurcus link, maybe it's just me though...
It's a direct link to a GPX file. Just do a "Save Link as...", "Save Target as..." or whatever option your browser needs.

Lairig Ghru near Aviemore is excellent- a proper trail, lots of fun. No navigation but big smiles for a few miles, thoroughly recommended as an easy "non trail centre" choice.

Otherwise, toss a coin, both are great.

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Nice one, cheers for that- it's an area I don't know as well as I should.

golspie is very cool indeed but is an hour north from Inverness really.

laggan is worth a look if passing, but after the torridon loop you'll be in the mood for something more natural I suspect.

Rather than Golspie, you might want to try Balblair. Far better trail for me and a very small tad further South (just North of Bonar Bridge).
Saying that, a Cairngorm tootle round Aviemore is always an easy and incredibly pictureskew option.

Glen Feshie, close to the potting shed / cake shop at Inschraich

www.inshriachnursery.co.uk/

Thanks all.

@Fat-boy-fat why Balblair over Golspie - better flow, more tech, prettier, easier, longer?

Cake Shop is apparently closed on Monday 🙁

Hi I did a similar trip a couple of years ago with a group of friends. Rode natural stuff around Avimore then Torridon then Laggan on the way back home. Everyone was loving the big open feeling and superb riding at Torridon, but also the great riding at Laggan. For a trail centre its very good, the black is pretty black and has a natural feel to most of it.
Golspie is also very good and is a great place to ride. Starts open very fast and swoopy then techy rocky then through the tress. Balblair is different in that it is more exposed rock (like Mcmoab at Kirroghtre)its a hoot to ride but its quite short. You can easily do Balblair and Golspie in a day. I fI had to choose only one it would be Golspie.
As someone has said its an hour north of Inverness so not really on your way home though.
If your driving from Torridon back down to Dingwall you could swing by Strathpeffer for a loop around the Strathpuffer course and the other good single track in the woods there. Ask in Square wheels bike shop for local info.
Enjoy!

[quote=scuttler ]Thanks all.
@Fat-boy-fat why Balblair over Golspie - better flow, more tech, prettier, easier, longer?
Cake Shop is apparently closed on Monday And Tuesday

Cake shop closed two days a week at this time of year? Maybe they can afford to with the prices of the cakes (thoroughly worth it). Link up Lairig Ghru with Inshriach trails and if you're still wanting more then head into the woods in Glen Feshie. If you see the start of a trail and it looks like it might be fun, it probably is. So much great riding and nicely different to that of Torridon.-

A quick update on how we got on.

Saturday - an ace day walking and scrambling on An Teallach across the pinnacles. A bit cloudy on top but it kept clearing which made it very atmospheric. A cracker of a mountain. A bit buggered.... but finished the unfinished business.

Sunday - a lazy day reading the paper, flying the kite at Red Point and a quick razz on bikes in the afternoon sunshine up from from Loch Maree to Poca Buidhe bothy under the flanks of Liathach and Ben Alligin.

Monday - the Torridon lollipop but my mate's surprisingly pooped and possibly unwell and so we get no further than about a mile past Bealach Na Lice - still the weather's nice, the scenery is awesome and we get to whizz back down to Annat. Eight hours back to Yorkshire but new unfinished business.

Happy days, great (best?) place, good advice as ever on here, maybe back in September.

Sounds like you need to get back up to finish the unfinished !

How were midges at the mo ??

Balblair is shorter than Golspie but worth doing the same day. It has lots of easier slabby sections and although much slower than Golspie, really good. Felt very natural. You will probably meet know one there.

Lairig Grhu via the Rothiemurcus lodge trail then around Lochan An Eiliean - follow the wee singletrack off shoots that are shore hugging with lots of footy goodness. Short half day trails from the Inverduie or Lochan Eilean car park.