[Closed] Innerleithen, Golfie, Peebles with kids

Plenty of kids at Glentress on Monday if that helps- Berm Baby Berm for example trail wise..

Plenty to go at in Glentress itself, plus depending on what they like doing something like gypsy glen could be a fun trip (picnic at the top of the hills, etc.). There's also quiet tracks and roads around the valley to explore, following the John Buchan way over Cademuir could be an option. I don't think you'll lack for things that's for certain!

What level of riding are these kids at?

Are they used to some bigger climbs?
Are they used to technical trails at all?

Glentress has the huge advantage of dual level carparks. Drive to the buzzards nest, tow/ride to BBB then ride down the end of the blue to the cafe. Ride up alone and get the car.

Repeat various permutations of this endlessly. Happy kids. Happy days.

New to downhill and technical climbs but can manage off-road ok.

Don’t expect to be able to do black runs bit wondering if it’s worth the trip for a change of scenery.

It sounds like Glenress would be good for them.

I am not a Tweed Valley expert. The rest of the valley is steeper, pretty meaty climbs and more natural in feel.

Our kids loved Glenress from a very young age (Tagalog!). They 'graduated' to Inners just over your kids age, properly made use of Inners at age 11+, really started exploring Golfie, Thorniliee and more at teenage years.

I'm not aware of other easier and child friendly trails in the valley, but I'm sure others will know.

Don’t expect to be able to do black runs

Stick to Glentress, lots af easy to reach blue and red trails they will enjoy but I'd forget about the Golfie/Inners if black trail centre stuff is too much for them, it's steeper than it looks on YouTube

Glentress is great. Take my 5 year old nephew there. Definitely some of the blues are a goer especially berm baby berm and the one up from that i never remember the name of alot of the other blues involve proper climbing as a bit of a qualifier. But don't dismiss the greens they are both good fun to warm up on if they aren't used to offroad.

Not sure about the gypsy glen recommendation though its a fair old climb and then its rough on the way down would be pretty miserable on wee wheels.

Lots of forest tracks etc and glen sax is quite nice to go up to the scout house for a picnic. Or you can ride along tweed cyclepath. Don't miss out on a walk along the river to neidpath castle then the old railway bridge and back via the tunnel... Torches and wellies very much required, great fun!.

Stick to the glentress blue and red. The Innerleithen red is really a trail of two halves, steep up then down.
There is the cycle path between them if you fancied scooting along

plus depending on what they like doing something like gypsy glen could be a fun trip (picnic at the top of the hills, etc.)

They're kids..., after Gypsy they'd hate you.

Go to GT, plenty there.

Glentress if they feel comfortable on the red then explore some off piste options, with care.

A long time ago Inners red was a lot "blacker" and it's still a step up from GT red, not counting the steady climb to the top.

Golfie etc steep, you need to go there yourself before even thinking about taking kids.

As above, 100% GT. The easy stuff at Inners is still hard by trail centre standards and Golfie is another step on from that. GT is brilliant for MTB learners of any age.

My 7 year old can spend a good 3 hours riding berm baby berm over and over again if I keep feeding him fruit pastels , then the blue back down to the cafe or hotel for food .

The trails around the skills loop are pretty kid friendly to and right next to berm baby berm and the upper car park .

Glentress is a great place to introduce them to it. It has it all from super easy to tight techy stuff for building up to much harder trails.
Go up to buzzards nest and you have everything they need 5 minutes from the car.

7yr olds on hardtails need to be kept well away from Golfie or Inners.

Ambulance trip waiting to happen.

Glentress if they feel comfortable on the red then explore some off piste options, with care.

I'm interested to know what off piste options you think are good for 7 year old on a hardtail 😉

Ponduro maybe?

In all seriousness, GT is great for kids, the Green is lovely and is a proper (very easy) trail rather than just some fireroads. You've got the little skills area next to that too.

The three blue trails Blue Velvet, Berm Baby Berm and Electric Blue next to the top car park are good too. And ridden in that order, each of them is a bit harder than the last.

Finally you got the easy side of the jump park where they can have a go at small drops and table tops

We used the adrenaline uplift with Hoppy Jr at that age, they had an option running from Peel to Buzzards 15 individual runs on a family pass (so we got 5 each for a family of 3). Uplift to Buzzards, ride up to blue velevet, run all the way down to the bottom, built up to doing the red option down Falla Brae at the end of the day.

Cheers all,

Going to hit Glentress and see how it goes.

At least I can be one of the good old folk teaching kids never to slam on the brakes and stop to admire the scenery on the top of a jump 😂

if you are feeling brave the tweed has a rope swing and is totally swimmable in bits upstream of the town (on the way to the castle). cold though.

+1 for Glentress with young kids. About as perfect as it gets with the green and blues to suit. A little skills area too. Then maybe pick off some select harder trails if the older one is keen. Trailforks is useful here.

As already mentioned make sure you park up at the Buzzard's Nest on your first visit. I often see families struggling up the climb from the bottom having not realised quite how far it is. They probably go home with a bad impression of GT. You can access all the easiest stuff from the Buzzard's. I do as thegeneralist said and ride back up to get the car for some peace and quiet at the end of the day while mum and the kids stuff their faces at the GT hotel.

@richmtb was thinking the easy stuff up by the mast running back to spooky (Carl's lane?) Then link to go chi min, zoom or bust. All a bit more techie but not scary steep here's the blue light.

was thinking the easy stuff up by the mast running back to spooky (Carl’s lane?) Then link to go chi min, zoom or bust.

I took my lad down all that when he was 10 or so on his hardtail. All fine, but he said one bit was a bit relentless on a hardtail. Still he enjoyed seeing some other parts off the waymarked blue/red.

Fair enough, that's kind of what I though you meant. I just found the idea of a 7 year old trying Broon Troot or Five Year Plan amusing 🙂

But its a long way to the mast for little legs and Ho Chi Min and Zoom or Bust might still be a bit rough for little wheels though.

Check out a new Web site with an easy menu of mtb and gravel rides all starting along the Tweed Valley Railway Path between Peebles and Innerleithen/Walkerburn
Something should suit and makes a change from the trail centres.

Www.bikevalleytrails.co.uk

Cheers all for the advice - Glentress and Buzzards Nest was epic. Berm baby berm and all the surrounding trails are great fun for kids. I would have been quite hated if I parked in bottom car park and said a ride up from the bottom would take a mere 5 mins 😂

Glad you enjoyed it! The first climb would be a stinker if you don't know what to expect, so sounds like you made the right choice.

It's good innit ?