[Closed] Is Scotland the best place for gravel riding?

Looks very good, book is due out in early April when I happen to be bikepacking in Scotland!

Nah, all riding's rubbish here. Move along now please.

Shit.

Better down south🤥

Hang on! I've been repeatedly and reliably informed by the experts on this very forum that gravel is an American thing and that there is none of that in the UK.

As an aside, it's interesting that gravel and bikepacking have become so intertwined recently.

As an aside, it’s interesting that gravel and bikepacking have become so intertwined recently.

it's called touring, been around for years 🙂

Leading on from that, it’s versatile, instead of owning and maintaining both a mountain bike and a road bike, plump for one gravel bike

no, doesn't scan.....

I still talk about my "cross bike" from the days I owned a Tricross (that was a brilliant bike).

Haven't biked enough other places to know if Scotland's the best, but the gravel riding here is superb in places.

I think that will be a nice book with nice photos. I’m a grumpy git though and kind of think that all you need is a map and a bike. Sort of the same as with Bothys. I will buy the book though 😉

While I’m being grumpy, I’m not sure that a gravel bike is even the best bike for riding tracks in the highlands (or Wales) for me at least, so I’m not sure I would ride further than I can on a mountain bike.

Leading on from that, it’s versatile, instead of owning and maintaining both a mountain bike and a road bike, plump for one gravel bike

N-1 ?

Burn the heretic....

Shit.

Better down south🤥

Indeed. In fact, there is literally nothing worth bothering about north of Birmingham. Saying for a friend.

Yeah, nah, it's rubbish.

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^^ Somewhere not in Scotland

Yeah, nah, it’s rubbish.

I know. I mean look at the state of it. What a rubbish bike...doesn't even pedal itself upright 🤨

I thought this was a mountain biking publication. Im sure gravel riding publications exist for those interested in this form of cycling

Leading on from that, it’s versatile, instead of owning and maintaining both a mountain bike and a road bike, plump for one a gravel bike

I thought this was a mountain biking publication. Im sure gravel riding publications exist for those interested in this form of cycling

I thought it was about Singletrack? Terrain interest more than bike type boundaries. Blur the lines, it's the 20s.

not if you don't live in scotland. the best gravel riding for me is the riding from my door. which is in devon...

Midges. Wind. Rain. Snow.

Bloody rubbish.

I thought this was a mountain biking publication. Im sure gravel riding publications exist for those interested in this form of cycling

I think some of my curly-wurly bar do-it-all-bike rides (AKA 'gravel') put a fair chunk more off-road and mountains into things than folk in other areas of the UK experience.

That ^ track is one of the classics of the genre, forms a brilliant loop with Glen Ogle, Rob Roy Way, Glen Almond and Crieff/Comrie

Don't tell 'em where it is Pike...

My mates have just done a load of trails around Aberfoyle. ‘Awesome’ came into the conversation when I was asking about it.

While I’m being grumpy, I’m not sure that a gravel bike is even the best bike for riding tracks in the highlands (or Wales) for me at least, so I’m not sure I would ride further than I can on a mountain bike.

Very much route dependent. For instance, I've had a couple of emails recently regarding the Cairngorms Loop Group Start dates which have included advice on whether or not a gravel bike would be suitable. My response is "if you have to ask, then the answer is no". I'm sure someone adequately prepared and experienced could get round on one - and that it would be ideal on some segments - but, for me, the sheer fatigue it would induce on such a long ride rules it out.

On the other hand, I did a loop of Dalwhinnie - Loch Laggan - Corrour - Rannoch - Loch Garry last year which would have been much harder work on a full-blown MTB.

Dalwhinnie – Loch Laggan – Corrour – Rannoch – Loch Garry

Can't be many better adverts for bona fide gravel riding in Scotland than that, especially if you take the track past Lochans na h-Earba

@scotroutes, how about Maol Bhuidhe &/or Camban, gravel or HT?

Can’t be many better adverts for bona fide gravel riding in Scotland than that, especially if you take the track past Lochans na h-Earba

Agreed. A great day out with a handy lunch stop at Corrour if you time it right. Last time I rode it I went the via Loch Laggan-side track as there was a bridge out at the end of Lochan na h-Earba. It's very good in its own right, just you're nearer the traffic on the other side of the loch. Works well as a two-day bivvy trip too.

We had a thread on Maol Buidhe last week 🙂  Iain (13FM) fancies it on a gravel bike but the loop does have some boggy carrying.

Camban from Glen Ling is a tough push (regardless of bike). From Glen Affric it's BIG gravel. I wouldn't fancy either on a gravel bike.

We had a thread on Maol Buidhe last week 🙂 Iain (13FM) fancies it on a gravel bike but the loop does have some boggy carrying.

Camban from Glen Ling is a tough push (regardless of bike). From Glen Affric it’s BIG gravel. I wouldn’t fancy either on a gravel bike.

I fancy Maol Bhuidhe because IIR you said it was probably the most remote bothy accessible by bike. Can’t remember if you put a potential route on here though.
I won’t ditch the HT just yet.

Aye, you'd want to do Killilan, Carnach, Iron Lodge and then up and over the col. You'd have a couple of km of pushing (probably) before the descent to the bothy.

You'd be riding UP this on the way to the bothy but there are only a couple of short sections like this.

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Looking back down to Carnach and Loch na Leitreach

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This is the descent to the bothy

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Very watchable video of Linlithgow Pro CX rider Cameron Mason attempting the Camban section on his gravel bike

EGF - I've got too many plans for September right now, but the Pait Lodge loop Scotroutes and I were discussing is one of them! Even if it's mostly just boggy trudging I think it is a route I need to do at least once in my life...

Aye. Getting to Camban and thinking it's downhill from here. Who hasn't made that mistake 😂

I've done Camban twice. 1st time from Cannich & 2nd time from Glenlicht House. Old HT both times which was fine. The push from Glenlicht was a Bastid but that was made worse by the fact we'd stupidly tried to get to the Falls of Glomach on the way from Ratagan.
What about Maol Bhiudhe from Attadale or Killilan & up Glen Ling?

The Attadale approach is the one we were discussing last week. The track to Pait doesn't exist so you end up with a push/carry across the glen west of Loch an Tachdaidh.

I don't think the Glen Ling track carries on far enough.

To those in the know. If I were to come up to Scotland for a week to try and fit in five day rides to see the best gravel riding there is, where would you suggest you base yourself?
TIA

Oof, tricky.

I'd say somewhere like Callander where you have two or three good loops on your doorstep, but you'd still be a bit remote from some excellent stuff like the Dalwhinnie Loop discussed above, the Cairngorms etc.

Would you be able to drive on a couple of the days?

Aberfeldy might also be a good shout, relatively central to a lot of big loops but you'd still want to have the use of a car for some of them.

Ft Augustus or Laggan would be equally handy although the Corrieyairaick Pass forms a bit of a barrier between Laggan and all the good stuff on the Ft Augustus side (as in you'd probably not want to do it more than once or twice max!)

If you were coming up with a vehicle - basing somewhere on the A9 would give a lot of options over 5 days. You could base yourself from Perth, Dunkeld, Pitlochry (train stations in all of those too) - and be within 1 hour's drive from more than you could manage in a week.

A couple of friends of mine came up to Newtonmore last summer and rode for a week without having to drive. I gave them a selection of routes and they used that as a basis.

train stations in all of those too

Shamefully the train line along the A9 corridor is hopeless for bikes, 2 spaces on each massive train and the hooks don't even fit most bikes! Others might have had better experiences than mine though.

If you were coming up with a vehicle – basing somewhere on the A9 would give a lot of options over 5 days.

I would be driving up although trying to limit any car trips if possible.

Thanks for the replies.

Thanks for all the support for the book and those who've bought it, it was really hard choosing the 28 routes but I tried to keep them in clusters for long weekends or combined for bikepacking, rather than spread over the country as the very best 28. Also interesting to see the chat on routes, I actually left Corrour to Rannoch out, I was sorely tempted as part of a huge loop but in the end figured it is already well known on things like Badger Divide and the trains are a faff with booking the two spaces to do linear. Also with Camban, I rode west towards Kintail and south to loch Cluanie but neither felt like gravel so kept it as a simple Glen Affric ride!

I would be driving up although trying to limit any car trips if possible

I'm finding it hard to look past Callander for the convenience and number of routes you could ride from the doorstep.

What sort of daily distance do you prefer? Callander opens up routes out to Aberfoyle ('Gravelfoyle') but also north to Killin/Rob Roy Way etc. as well as routes to Comrie/Crieff/Doune windfarm.

Ft August us is intriguing as you could do the Loch Ness 360 or portions of it, the Corrieyairack, the HT550 to Glen Affric, you could even do a Great Glen Way/Glen Roy loop if you didn't mind the fairly easy but boggy 4km hike near the top of Glen Roy.

Aviemore would probably be choice though, nicer place to stay, a decent mix of short routes, one or two BIG routes (even more if you stretch the definition of gravel and/or are prepared to do big distance).

Choices! 😉

south to loch Cluanie

Scotroutes loves that section I believe, recommend s it all the time 😉

Shamefully the train line along the A9 corridor is hopeless for bikes, 2 spaces on each massive train and the hooks don’t even fit most bikes! Others might have had better experiences than mine though.

That will be me - had bikes and even the tandem on them a few times.

 If I were to come up to Scotland for a week to try and fit in five day rides to see the best gravel riding there is, where would you suggest you base yourself?

Andy at backcountry.scot is arranging a gravel adventure weekend 16th-18th September - GrAviemore.