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Are you a real connoisseur of mountain biking? Do you crave after the biggest, boldest routes? Do you dream of remote, endless singletrack? Are you interested in doing a very special ride?
This introduction may seem a little dramatic, but the tour of the Cairngorms lives up to, and exceeds this hype. This 200km circuit has everything: technical riding, amazing scenery, extreme wilderness and superb rideability. It will occupy you for 3 to 5 days, with a selection of private tarmac, land rover tracks and a substantial quantity of top-drawer singletrack. There is less than 50km of public road! Could this be Britain's best off road tour?
The Cairngorms are infamous for their remote nature, and extreme weather conditions. Bear this in mind before attempting this route. Experience and equipment must both be top-notch - this is not a route for beginners.
Although I had ridden in the Cairngorms three times previously, I can claim absolutely no credit at all for devising this route. That honour lays fairly and squarely with Bothy Bikes from Aviemore.
If you ever need any advice about routes and conditions in the area, these guys are the experts, and the only source of spares and repairs anywhere near the route. Apart from being the town's biggest bike shop, Bothy Bikes originally invented this route as a 5-day supported tour. Contact the experts at www.BothyBikes.co.uk
This established route is so good, that I could not find even the slightest room for improvement. There is one modification I have proposed however, and that is that the circuit can be completed within 4 or even 3 days, which puts it in realms of the long weekend, rather than a week off work.
The Cairngorms are renowned for their extensive walking, climbing and skiing possibilities. The area is bounded by a series of long, level valleys, some of which intersect with almost imperceptible watersheds. These valleys have been used to connect the surrounding villages for centuries, and bicycle use has been regular since at least the 1930's. Connecting these valleys together into a circuit is the basis of this superb route. The only major climb en route is the Bealach Dearg into Braemar.
Glens Feshie, Tilt, Tromie and Avon contain some of the best riding in Scotland, however, due to the extreme length of these glens it is usually impossible to devise circular day rides. The tour of the Cairngorms provides an ideal opportunity to experience these superb tracks by connecting some of these glens into a multi-day route. The singletrack in Glen Tilt is some of the best in Britain.
The Cairngorms are also renowned for their savage weather conditions. They are also almost devoid of shelter, apart from the occasional bothy, so take plenty of clothing. If your idea of a waterproof is a pertex wind jacket, think again. Similarly, if your idea of being prepared is carrying a mobile phone! Snow storms are still possible in May, and likely in April!
Starting at Loch Morlich youth hostel:
Ryvoan Pass, Abernethy Forest, Braes of Abernethy, Dorback Lodge, Glen Brown, Tomintoul (1st overnight possibility).
Glen Avon, Loch Builg, Bealach Dearg, Braemar (2nd overnight possibility).
Linn of Dee, Glen Tilt, Blair Atholl (3rd overnight possibility).
Old A9 road (cycleway), Dalnacardoch Lodge, Gaick Pass, Glen Tromie, Kingussie (4th overnight possibility).
An assortment of waymarked and non-marked tracks through Inshriach and Rothiemurcus forest lead you back to Loch Morlich.
Instead of starting at Aviemore itself, I began and ended this journey at Loch Morlich youth hostel. This means that a grand finale through the stunning Rothiemurcus forest becomes a logical route choice, rather than a diversion. If you ask the warden nicely they will also happily accommodate your car for the duration of the trip. (Remember that an unidentifiable car in a youth hostel car park could result in the mountain rescue being called out).
From the youth hostel, you ride only a few metres on the road, before branching off on a track past Glenmore Lodge outdoor centre. This sandy track leads off into the Ryvoan Pass, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, with the lovely An Lochan Uaine nestling between Scots pines and steep scree slopes. Take the left fork toward Ryvoan bothy, where the track gets a little rocky. Before too long the pass is attained, and you descend into the wonderful Abernethy forest. These Cairngorm forests are truly magnificent, and are worth the journey alone.
From here, the next fixed destination is Dorback lodge, on the far side of the wild moor, known as the braes of Abernethy. You have three options: Carry on enjoying yourself, and ride downhill until you reach Nethy Bridge, then back up the minor road to Dorback. Or, for those with greater morals, head east via Loch a Chnuic and Eag Mohr to Dorback Lodge, crossing the River Nethy either at the bridge by forest lodge, or the ford higher up. I would personally go via forest lodge, as then you also get the lion's share of the downhill.
Careful navigation is required across the Braes. On a clear day always try to sight off the gap of Eag Mohr, and/or Dorback Lodge in the distance. Do not be tempted to take the flatter track across the Braes, which emerges at Attinlea - it is mainly fictional. The Eag Mohr route is also rather sketchy in places too, but the final section of singletrack to-and-through the narrow cleft itself is superb. There is a section of singletrack so maniacally twisty that it is hard to believe it wasn't created by the shovel of Dafydd Davies'. The final sections of 'zero' track are worryingly tiny (just head directly for the obvious pass) and are not marked on the OS map - but they are there and rideable - just! An entertaining descent leads to the huge flood plain of the Dorback Burn. Have fun crossing the burn, and if this upsets you, you should brace yourself for some of the 'real' river crossings later on.
From Dorback Lodge take the upper fork toward Glen Brown. The climb is a bit tough, but the descent into the Glen is very fast and fun. Desert the huge vehicle track and instead follow the path down the Glen, barely visible as it endlessly crosses and re-crosses the burn, until you reach the corner of the forest to your right. There should be a track rising up the right-hand fellside here, but there is absolutely no sign of it on the ground. Persevere and lug your bike up by the edge of the forest. At a hairpin bend the track suddenly re-appears and you can ride up to Stronachavie. From here, a very fast track wizzes you down to the road at Bridge of Avon, and in a few minutes you should be in Tomintoul.
You can either choose to spend the night in Tomintoul, or simply restock before attempting the second half of the route to Braemar. At least the navigation and rideability for the second half of the day is much easier. It must also be stated here that the 30 miles of road from Tomintoul to Braemar are by no means an easy option! The off-road route climbs only once to 700m, while the tarmac crosses 3 passes of almost the same height.
From the back street of Tomintoul, find the road leading into Glen Avon. The road splits by a car park and viewpoint. Take either branch, as they rejoin about 2km further on at Delavorar. Most of this 'track' is in fact surfaced, probably due to the estate having been alleged acquired by the Sultan of Brunei. Savour the magnificent highland scenery, as it is 12 long kilometres before you leave this track. You leave Glen Avon just past Inchrory, which is currently being renovated to almost palace-like luxury (for who, I can't guess!). Less than 1km past Inchrory, the Glen bends abruptly where a side river flows in. Follow the track alongside this side river up into Glen Builg. Glen Builg carries the scars of long-closed mines, and at times the track winds up through old spoil heaps, which provide perfect playgrounds for those with energy to spare. The track soon climbs steeply before suddenly disappearing into marshes just before Loch Builg. Trudge through the bogs aiming toward the left hand side of the Loch. Here you should pick up a wonderful grass singletrack.
If you have true MTB blood running through your veins, this will one of most magical places you have ever visited. One of the most superb stretches of singletrack anywhere, almost all rideable, which ducks and dives alongside the Loch. At one point, the track leads you through a solitary iron gate - with no accompanying fence! The Loch has wide bays and sandy beaches, and would also make a superb windsurfing venue. And all this is taking place hours from the nearest road.
Unfortunately it all finishes very abruptly as you reach an unseen land rover track. Turn left, and then, only 500m later right, so that you are riding toward the head of Glen Gairn. After crossing the bridge, follow the slightly boggy track alongside the river (not the ultra-steep new track up the mountain side ahead). Eventually this track also climbs steeply onto the flank of the mountain, this is the beginning of the Bealach Dearg (the red pass). The climb is steep, but well surfaced, and the gradient eases significantly after the first horizon. Inexplicably the track rises higher than it needs to, and descend onto the summit of the pass from a high point of 730m. This first descent was a bit skittery, with the back wheel bouncing high over loose surface rocks. The remainder of the track toward the Dee valley is much smoother, and makes a fast descent. However, there are a couple of short sharp climbs before you reach the forest above Braemar. If you've ridden from Loch Morlich in a day, you'll really feel those climbs!
Once in the forest, the ground refuses to agree with the map, as there are many new forest roads. Stay high, or you could end up as lost as I did. It was in this forest that I had a marvellous encounter with the local fauna. As I sped down a forest road through a felled area at 70kph (which turned out to be the wrong route), a herd of red deer ran across the track in single file. Without touching the brakes, I continued on a direct collision course with the final animal. In a perfect display of synchronised cycling/running the last deer leapt across the track just 10 metres in front of me, in a single stride. That 10 metre separation was about half a second at the speed I was travelling!
If, unlike myself, you don't get lost. You should emerge triumphantly near Invercauld house. Backtrack a few yards, so as to take the ornamental drive through the castle grounds (actually a pretend castle), which provides a perfect end to the day. Join the A93 and trundle into Braemar for a well earned rest. After all, it is over 80km - nearly all off road from Loch Morlich. And in my case 11 hours of superb riding and scenery.
Braemar has many guest houses and a youth hostel. There is a fine café in the village (the one by the main road junction is bike-unfriendly, the one further towards Linn of Dee, on the right is much better). A hotel at the opposite end of town from the hostel serves fine beer, and an even finer steak and chips.
This is the easy day. Most of today's ride takes place in one glen, and much of it is also down hill. This might sound very cushy, but those without experience of Scottish terrain may well underestimate just how long an uninhabited glen can be. Just remember that those squares on your map are one kilometre across!
The glen in question is Glen Tilt, and is almost legendary. For 2km the river flows down a parallel sided gorge, which is so straight you'd swear it was artificial. You have the pleasure of riding the superb singletrack high above this gorge - if you've got the nerve! In situations like these I tend to get so overwhelmed by the quality of the riding that I overlook small concerns such as staying alive, and I end up riding sections I wouldn't walk! After negotiating the gorge you have around 16km of downhill landrover track - ten whole miles of downhill to savour, alongside a beautiful, ever growing river until you spring upon civilisation suddenly at Blair Atholl.
A note of warning however. There is absolutely NO food at all between the start and end points of this route, and if like myself, you fail to locate a breakfast stop at Braemar, then you're in trouble! Don't plan an early start from Braemar, wait around until the shops open, so you can have a bulging stomach before you set off into the wilds!
After stocking up mightily with food at Braemar, take the minor road out of town towards Linn of Dee. At the Linn, cross the bridge and immediately take the sandy track on the left. The National Trust for Scotland have now relented on their (non-legal) mountain bike ban, as every one including estate staff completely ignored it! So head off up this track into the Mar estate with a clear conscience. These Cairngorms Glens have a long history of cycle usage, including a court case concerning Glen Feshie, where it was deemed that 'cycling was simply an extension of walking'. Also Glen Tilt is one of Scotland's oldest rights of way, and so the National Trust for Scotland had a serious nerve in attempting this restriction on their Mar estate!
Anyway, hold your head high as you ride out toward White bridge. Cross the bridge, and ride until you reach a sharp bend in the Geldie Burn where it meets the Bynack Burn. There used to be a suspension bridge here, but nowadays you'll have to carefully wade the Geldie. Be careful, and prepare for very cold wet feet (and calves, and thighs!).
Around 100 metres after crossing the Geldie you should pick up a thin vehicle track. Follow this to Bynack Lodge (ruin) situated in a copse around 1.5km away. After the lodge, carry straight ahead up the valley of the Allt an t-Seilich, toward the wide col on the horizon. After a short distance of recently improved quad-width track, the singletrack begins. Despite being marginally uphill, this is top-quality riding and should be savoured. The best riding is just the far side of the watershed, where the Allt Garbh Buidhe flows through a lush meadow.
This next section is the main event. "Almost precipitous, and indeed made riding very unpleasant", is how Queen Victoria described it, and she knew a thing or two about mountain biking! At the worst (or best) point, the track hangs almost vertically above a waterfall, perhaps 40m below. If you feel like walking, do so. Better cautious than dead!
After 2km of superb (if a little nervous) riding, the track spits you out at the Falls of Tarf, where a magnificent suspension bridge carries you above a series of cascades. From here onward and downward, the track improves, as it races toward civilisation. There are signs of life as you pass Forest Lodge, and after here the track is good enough for motor vehicles to use. Further signs of life are to be found at Marble Lodge and Auchgobhal.
Throughout the descent of Glen Tilt, the River Tilt is never far away, and it is a magnificent, untamed highland river. As it begins to carve a wooded gorge, you cross it at a high stone-arch bridge (follow the main track), and climb high above its now raging torrents. Before you realise what is happening you are spat out onto a minor road above Blair Atholl. Ride straight over, down the track between the castle and the camp site, before finishing your ride in fine style down the castle's main avenue.
An old mill in the village doubles as a tea room, and the hotel near the station offers fine food, excellent service, open fires and big leather sofas. A very old fashioned type of establishment where you can while away hours with a pint and newspaper, wondering why modern hotels aren't this welcoming. There is no youth hostel in town, but several B&B's (east end of town behind the garage mainly), and you might be surprised how reasonable the rates are at the hotel.
You may spy a slight problem with the start of today's route, and that is the dirty great A9 road which you'll be required to follow for the first few km. But fear not. The road has been recently improved, leaving behind an old road, (sometimes traffic free, sometime local traffic only) which has now been signposted as a cycleway. At the exact point where this cycleway ends, and you're faced with an inescapable dual carriageway, is where you head off into the hills onto the Gaick pass. Convenient or what?
The Gaick pass cuts easily through the Cairngorm massif, connecting Drumochter with another magnificent glen; Glen Tromie. From the outlet of Glen Tromie, varying combinations of road and offroad return you to Loch Morlich. If you're doing this circuit in 3 days, you'll ride mostly road, cutting through by Loch an Eilein and Rothiemurcus at the very end, and save the following day for luggage-free exploration of these forests. If you're taking 4 or more days, you'll most likely explore the environs of Glen Tromie, Glen Feshie and Rothiemurcus in detail, before finishing. Whichever you choose, these sandy pine forests should be not be bypassed by any serious mountain biker.
Unfortunately, today's route begins with a few km of tarmac, and uphill tarmac at that! Start off on the B8079 (the old A9 passing through the middle of Blair Atholl), and simply follow the cycleway signs. Past Calvine, the road becomes unclassified, and for some stretches closed to cars. Soldier on until the end of the cycletrack at Dalncardoch lodge, where the Rannoch road joins from the left. Here you must (carefully) cross the A9 and ride up the forest road directly opposite you. After a km or so you reach a transmitter on the edge of the forest. This is a bleak section of track, until you pass Sronphadruig lodge, with only a strange concrete ford to break the monotony.
At the lodge, follow the track toward the series of weirs and dams on the hillside to your left. The river here may be dry, due to this re-diversion of water. Before you go behind the corner of the hill and into the side valley, keep an eye out for cairns and a thin track on your right. Follow this, and before too long Loch an Duin and the Gaick pass will be in sight.
The Gaick pass is the narrow passage between An Dun and Creag an Loch, and is filled entirely by Loch an Duin. This area is prone to avalanches, and if you ride this route in spring, large cornices can hang menacingly above your head on the edge of An Dun. The singletrack above the loch is fun, but not quite as much fun as that at Loch Builg. The loch itself is beautiful, but again, not quite as beautiful as Loch Builg.
As you ride along the path above the loch, lookout for a spout of white water emerging from the mountain side. If this is present, then as the song goes; "there may be trouble ahead". A tunnel in the hillside is the outlet from the dam seen previously. If water is being poured into Loch an Duin at a high rate, it will also be escaping at a high rate, and crossing the outlet stream may present problems.
Enjoy the rest of the singletrack before worrying about crossing the Allt Loch an Duin! On good days, the outlet stream from the loch can be forded with dry feet, but the size of the eroded banks either side of the stream gives an indication of how wild it can get when provoked by melting snows, heavy rain, or the waterworks upstream. If the outlet is it spate it may be safer to wade the deep but still water of the loch itself, rather than be swept away. Many guidebooks claim that deep streams can be forded by placing the bike upstream of yourself, and leaning upon it for support, forming a tripod. I really do wonder if any of these authors have used this technique in anything except a tame stream, as I can swear that it is positively dangerous. On my attempt at crossing this stream (about thigh depth and fast), things were a little desperate until my bike was washed away, pinning itself against my legs. The water immediately rose up against the bike and I was now standing almost waist deep in water, with my bike pinned hard against me. The situation was now life-threatening, and I began to slide downstream. Using a technique which resembled triple jump, plus ballet dance, plus lunge for your life, I managed to grab the far bank with one hand, while still holding the bike's top tube with the other. I was very lucky to escape with both myself and bike intact - so be warned. Wading up to your chest through the loch may well be a better option!
After dramatic river crossings (or not) the track on the far bank takes you toward Gaick Lodge. The crossing of the Allt Gharbh Ghaig may also provide entertainment, but after that, all's well. At Gaick Lodge, marvel at the zig-zag track descending the Sgor Dearg, especially as you realise that under Scottish law, you could legally ride it (hunting season permitting). There now follows a long descent of Glen Tromie, with an ever improving (eventually surfaced) track alongside a fine river with many small hydroelectric schemes. After riding through some magnificent Scots pine woodland, you are spat back into civilisation at Tromie bridge, near Drumguish.
If you wish to end the day here, you'll have to cycle left into Kingussie (youth hostel now closed, in case it is marked on your map). For those intent on returning to Loch Morlich or Aviemore today, head right the road.
If you wish to travel to Loch Morlich purely off road, you can turn immediately right into Drumguish (or even slightly before reaching Tromie Bridge), and follow tracks into Glen Feshie, reaching Loch an Eilein via Moor of Feshie and Loch Gamhna. There are many waymarked mountain bike tracks in this area, and you'd do well to pick up a leaflet and map before setting off on the circuit (doh!). There are thousands of variations of the route back to Loch Morlich, but I rode almost all of it on the road, saving the next day for exploring the forests without burdensome rucsacs.
I rode directly to Loch an Eilein, via the B970. At the car park I met the world's friendliest attendant, an ex-brewery worker from Burton-upon-Trent. After asking him if I could buy food in the visitors centre (things were getting desperate by now) he gave me his own sandwiches, plus some orange juice to wash it down with! He even refilled my camelback from the bottle of squash he kept in his hut. What greater service could a hungry man ask for?
From Loch an Eilein follow the mountain bike signs via Achnagoichan cottage (with bizarre, unfenced, immaculate garden) to the Cairngorm club footbridge. The only way to describe the beauty of Rothiemurcus forest, is that it was raining as I rode through, and it still looked superb! From the footbridge, root-strewn and sandy singletrack leads you through the Scots pine, back to the youth hostel, via Loch Morlich itself. A fitting end to one of Britain's best mountain bike rides. Just make sure that you stay an extra day, to ride some more of the mountain bike routes in these forests before you head home.
Kevin Hodgson - October 2000
Updated August 2001.
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Last Updated 09-08-2001
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