Scottish C2C routes may be at risk of becoming clichés, but this one is worthy of your efforts. It takes you from the Atlantic to the North Sea through the highlands, via some of the finest glens (Affric and Feshie), several high passes (including the Corrieyairack Pass), and a little of the main valleys (Strath Spey). A true off-road tour through the Highlands. Around 200 miles in total, taking 5 days to ride.
But be under no illusions, this is not an easy ride. Most of the days are fairly long, and there is a lot of climb. And there’s also a fair bit of pushing uphill. The terrain is often remote and there is no technical support available on the route - so make sure your kit all works! And be sure you have the navigation and mountain skills as well as being able to ride. But the rewards are out of the top drawer: Fabulous descents, ever-changing landscapes from the steep dramatic hills of the West to the more rolling Cairngorms. Some of General Wade’s military roads over unlikely high passes. Ancient routes through the glens connecting valleys to each other. Wilderness, mountain, forest and valley. Some of the finest scenery in Scotland, and two of its most scenic glens. About two-thirds is off-road (the remainder mostly on very minor roads), mostly on good land-rover tracks but with some single track and a few boggy bits. Apart from the towns which are visited overnight, the route passes through very little civilisation.
There is rail access at either end for those of you willing to do battle with Scotrail’s cycle booking system.
A relatively short but tough day with a gentle start: Fill your noses with the sea air, take a photo of the bridge, and head from the Kyle towards Glen Shiel on the A87. This is a fairly busy road, which gently undulates along the coast of Loch Duich, past Eilean Donan castle (a common picture on postcards and shortcake boxes). After around 20km, just beyond Inverinate, veer away from sea and the Five Sisters of Kintail which dominate the head of this sea loch and take the minor road left to Morvich. Follow this round, over the bridge and then turn left again. After less than 1km there is a SROW (Scottish Rights of Way Society) sign on the right “Glen Affric via Glen Lichd”. From here, you will see no more tarmac until the middle of tomorrow.
This track is rather mucky at first but improves as it heads up the valley, deep into the mountains behind the Five Sisters, climbing only very slightly. After around 5km you will be at Glenlichd House at the head of the deep and sombre glen. There is a small open shelter at one end if you need to escape from the weather. The glen here is only 50m above sea level, but the mountains on either side are over 3000 ft.
Have something to eat and gird your loins for the nasty bit: The next section is the worst bit of the entire trip, and the reason why the first day has been kept relatively short. Beyond Glenlichd house there is a singletrack which heads up an unpromising-looking valley. You must now push, shove, carry and swear you way up a rocky path for around 4km and 300m of height gain, almost none of which is rideable. There is some excellent scenery to enjoy when you pause for breath as the valley twists its way up the mountain, narrow and steep sided. There is an excellent waterfall to photograph, thundering through a narrow chasm. Enjoy. This valley cuts between the 5 Sisters and Beinn Attow, a bulky mountain with a large flat top.
Eventually the gradient eases, becoming undulating, and the path becomes gradually more rideable. Notice the watershed, where the river changes direction sharply as it emerges from a side valley, choosing to head West rather than East. As the undulations become more descending the path becomes more of a track and progress becomes quicker. Beyond the bothy at Camban (shelter if you need it) it is altogether easier, with plenty of water splashes to plunge through. It makes a rapid descent as the valley opens before you, crosses a couple of fords and you arrive at the youth hostel (Alltbeithe).
Hopefully the weather will be fine, and you will be able to see why the efforts of the last couple of hours were worthwhile. Glen Affric is truly magnificent, definitely one of the finest. The hostel sits at the head of it, below grand peaks and at the junction of several valleys at an altitude of 260m. It is overlooked by Sgurr Cearthreamhan, Beinn Attow, Ciste Dubh and Mullach Fraoch Choire, all of which are Munros (mountains over 3000 ft).
Just a word of caution: There is another route from Morvich to Alltbeithe, via the Bealach an Sgairne, further north than the route described here. Don’t go there, not with a bike.
Quite a long and gruelling day. Start by heading East down Glen Affric. The track is rough but easily rideable, gradually improving. After 5km it crosses a bridge at Athnamulloch then climbs a little to join a larger track. Head Left (East). This track has an excellent surface, and climbs above the valley bottom, giving good views across Loch Affric to the hills beyond and back up the valley whence you have come. In this area the native forest is being allowed to regenerate after being largely destroyed by felling and grazing, and many young trees are spreading across the bottom of the valley. The lower reaches of the valley already contain one of the largest remnants of native forest in Scotland, and the forest is often truly beautiful.
After a roaring descent the track levels and there are a couple of houses: Look out for a track heading right which continues on down the south bank of the valley. If you miss it you soon come to a large gate at a bridge, and the public car park beyond. If you want a scenic diversion, cross this bridge and climb a little to a track junction. Here, leave the bike and walk uphill on the waymarked track for five minutes to the viewpoint - another picture postcard view.
By this stage the forest cover is complete. The track continues easily through the trees on the south side of Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin; follow it for around 6km, then take a right fork uphill (no obvious clues to pinpoint this junction but keep and eye to the left for the peninsula which reaches into the loch). A steady climb of about 50m through the trees, then the track gently turns to descent, through many sweeping bends (muddy when we did it - forestry operations). At the point where is reaches the edge of the forest turn right, down some more curves and then left at the bottom on a main track. This track runs gently through pastures to Knockfin and tarmac.
You have been heading downhill for most of the morning, it will soon be payback time. But first another scenic diversion awaits. Cross the bridge at Knockfin and turn right. Keep right at a complex track junction. Tarmac gives way to a good stone track which passes the teetering ruins of Guisachan House. 1km further on take the left fork and start climbing, quite steeply in places. Soon you come to a small car park area with a waymarked walk to the Plodda falls - take a look, it only takes ten minutes.
From the car park take the left turn, slightly down hill for 1km where, just after some bends, there is a SROW sign to the right. Brace for climb, some 350m of it. It rises through the trees, gently at first but becoming steeper. At a fork go left (look for a small SROW waymark), and soon straight on up rather than the tempting flat left. You should now be on General Wade’s military road, climbing steeply to the forest edge.
Now a long grind uphill, joining with the line of pylons. The track is rocky but almost all rideable. Take some time to look back right to the hills around Glen Affric, now distant. Towards the summit there are some steep bends with loose rocks. The track rises above a lochan, then dips and rises again to a second summit, and a new vista.
What goes around comes around, so the long climb leads to a long descent, loosing some 380m into Glen Morriston. The top section, although mostly good, has some sudden eroded loose rocky sections making it hard work at times. So be a little cautious. It eases to a short re-ascent, then a thundering long scream downhill on excellent track. If you pause on the way down, look across the valley for the next section of the route, traversing right then left across the hillside in front of you.
Try to avoid our pitfalls here. Part way down, Nick found himself riding with no saddle. The seat pin broke off just above the frame. Apparently it just toppled off backwards. As you can imagine, we were somewhat stunned at this. The solution: Phone a bike shop in Fort William, who were able to deliver a new stem, and a new pannier rack for me, by taxi to our B&B in Fort Augustus. Blessed is the mobile phone. Nick had to complete the day looking like he was riding his kid brother’s bike, and I took the luggage he’d had on his rack. But it worked.
Somewhere towards the bottom of the screaming descent you should turn right, but we missed it and came to a locked gate. Off with the panniers and over the top we went for the short track descent to the road. Somewhere there’s a path through the trees.
This brings you to the A887, which although a trunk road is pretty small and quiet as it leads along Glen Morriston. Turn right on it and follow it to General Wade’s Torgoyle Bridge, worth a quick look as you have to cross it anyway. Shortly afterwards take a forest track on the left, SROW signed to Fort Augustus.
You’re probably feeling the effects of quite a long day by now, but it ain’t all over yet. One more hill to do, with around 270m of climb. The track swings right and climbs steadily. Ignore the first track on the left and keep grinding uphill to a gateway across the track (no gate when we passes through). Here a fainter track crosses - and yes it’s good ol’ General Wade again. Turn left and follow him.
This is mostly rideable singletrack, firm underneath but with boggy bits. The gradient quickly eases but it gets boggier and rideability is more mixed. Most boggy bits are firm under the water, but as the track swings gently right around the hill this is less so and there are a couple of large boggy patches to cross. Cross the stream and puuuuush the short brute of a slope beyond.
It becomes rideable again as you get beside the pylons, gently uphill to the gate and into the forest. Now just a little more uphill before it eases into the long final descent.
At around this point my pannier rack, already falling apart at the welds, finally collapsed backwards, still attached at the hubs and trailing on the track behind. We pulled it upright and bungy-corded it to the seat post. Job done. Made pedalling tricky as the panniers obstructed my feet, but fine for the descent.
There are options through the forest, so choose according to your taste. We took perhaps the easiest line: Straight through the crossroads, veer right where the military road heads straight for hairpins, then left. Some re-ascent leads to a short down hill and the edge of town. Fast, exhilarating and technically easy. Look at the map and take your pick.
Quite a long and hard day, tough on people and gear.
A MTB classic, the Corrieyairack Pass. Another General Wade road. It features a long climb from near seal level to 780m, then a long descent into Strath Spey. There are many descriptions of this route already written, so I will not describe it in detail. Take the minor road from Ft Augustus East along the loch. Just before an uphill a track heads right (some sign, can’t remember what it said) which cuts the corner to the minor road above. Turn right, ignore a couple of left tracks and look for one clearly marked at General Wade’s Military Road.
The first section used to be very badly eroded but has recently been repaired. Basically you follow this track for miles, climbing in fits and starts on steep hairpins. Several short sections are too steep and loose to climb on a bike, but most is good. Some descent sections add variety as the views over Loch Ness and the Great Glen unfold. As the top comes closer there is a long, relentless diagonal ascent which takes you to a shoulder. A short dip and final climb and the pass is reached with a new vista to see, looking down the headwaters of the Spey to the valley beyond, which is the route ahead. The summit is also somewhat despoiled by pylons: I now realise that General Wade really worked for the Hydro board.
Take a break, it’s probably about lunch time by now. It’s been a long haul up to this, the highest point on the route, around 2500 ft.
A short straight descent leads to the hairpins, loosing height rapidly down Corrie Yairack itself. We had expected these to be badly eroded, but they were rideable if rough and a bit loose. Below this the track is initially fine as it descends steadily, but you will come across a terrible badly eroded section which is quite impossible to ride, though some of it can be bypassed. Several times, just when you think it’s all plain sailing, the eroded mess returns. By Melgarve, however, things improve and soon tarmac reappears.
The hills here are noticeably less steep and fierce than those further west, and the valley broader. As you head east this will become more pronounced.
The route continues down the valley on the small road, almost no traffic, passing a small reservoir, joining the main road at Laggan. Head left towards Newtonmore. Soon you will reach Cluny, where just after the castle there is a SROW sign.
Here you have options. You can continue on the road to Newtonmore, or you can take the off road option, following the track up the glen and into Glen Banchor. The climb is remarkably easy, leading to the building where Strath and Eilich joins Glen Banchor. There is a bridge on the map - but we didn’t spot it and waded.
Glen Balloch is a magnificent glen though in bad weather could be described as desolate. On the north side there are high mountains, though they are more rounded than dramatic. But the valley has a feeling of space and wilderness, but somehow on a more human scale.
After the previous good track, the next bit is something of a shock. There is only a faint line, heading downstream on the left bank. After a couple of side streams this becomes a little more distinct. Keep close to the river, eventually dropping down again to it where the path becomes more of a track. Pass the fridge (yes!), through the gate and follow the now distinct track to the house at Glenballoch. Keep on the track, which becomes tarmac after a bridge, and continue (fabulous scenery) steeply downhill to Newtonmore.
Once on the main road, head left to wards Kingussie, your overnight stop. There is a cycle track alongside the road between the edges of the towns (Sustrans route 7), giving a nice gentle end to the day.
Today heads from the broad Spey valley, through the stunning Glen Feshie, skirting the southern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, and leads into Strath Dee, home of Braemar and Balmoral Castle. A long gradual ascent to a broad pass, then a gradual descent. The start of the day is steady enough: Head out of town past the station, over the river and past the 17th Century Ruthven Barracks (worth of quick look - its free!). This quiet road then ambles on the level through rough heath and scrawny forest to Tromie Bridge.
Here, turn right up the stone track, then shortly hard back left and into Drumguish, a collection of dwellings at the forest edge. Right at the crossroads, it becomes track and heads over pastures to the forest. Climb through the forest, then a rapid descent to the forest edge again. As you emerge from the trees, look for a footbridge on the right, and take it.
Beyond, the map shows the old path. However do not try to follow it to the ruin at Baileguish, instead keep left and look for another bridge. From this a track heads over pastures to forest across the slight valley. A good track leads on and down to tarmac again in Glen Feshie.
Take the tarmac easily up the valley, and enjoy the scenery as it gently unfolds, the twinkling river below and the harsh Cairngorm plateau beyond. Just past some buildings, turn left (not very obvious) and descend to a rickety bridge over the river. And I mean rickety, complete with disclaimer. Ride over.
Head right up the valley, keeping to the most obvious of the tracks and definitely not crossing the river. You could pause to see the remnants of Landseer’s house, thought there’s only the chimney remaining, near to the bothy. The forest in Glen Feshie is sparse, allowing views of the hills beyond and allowing the delightful river to be seen, broad, shallow (mostly) and very picturesque.
After a while the track runs out between the river and the steep bank (do not cross), and a singletrack section follows, with a few surprises (push!). This is turn gives way to more easy track on flat valley floor. Keep on through the pine and the juniper, starting to climb on rocky moraine at the valley side. At a fork, at the bottom of a short steep descent, keep left and climb again on a broad terrace, which becomes a narrow terrace, then runs out altogether where the river has eroded away the moraine at the bottom of a steep mountainside. For a few yards, you will have to unload your luggage and carry across.
Follow the track, easily at first, until it sort of peters out at a river. From here there are generally two options, a boggy double track or an excellent long firm challenging singletrack. Take your pick and press on. The valley, previously narrow and enclosed, is now wide open as the very broad watershed approaches. Behind you, the glen can be seen as a notch cut from the broad plateau.
At a large side stream you will find a sign (well you will if you are doing as we did, following singletrack near the river) directing you up the side stream to a bridge (a rough push), rather further way than you would want it to be, but beautifully set above a waterfall. Cross and take the boggy (not rideable) path beyond. In a few fits and starts it reaches the highest point. Pause. To your left, the rounded summits of Beinn Bhrotain and Monadh Mor rise atop relentless heather slopes, to the right the more distinct Carn an Fhidhleir and An Sgarsoch. Contrast these to the much more dramatic summits of the first day, and ponder the power of ice.
As the water begins to flow with you, the path improves. Rough singletrack is interspersed with boggy patches and rocky messes, fun and challenging though sometimes slow progress. This continues for around 4km until a track suddenly appears from the right. Across the river you will see the ruins of Geldie Lodge, which it once served. You don’t want to visit it (you’ll get wet feet), so head left down the valley.
There follows miles of quick, gently descending, roughish track. Thunder down it and enjoy the returns for all that ascent, always taking the obvious track. The glens here are broad and pretty dull, so don’t feel you have to stop, though your backside may be grateful for some relief from the relentless pounding. Although the high peaks of the Cairngorms are not far away, they keep themselves pretty private from this angle. There are some glimpses up the Lairig Ghru, a deep U-shaped valley which cuts right through the high plateau to the other side, flanked by 4000 ft mountains. Cross White bridge and roll on, reaching the public road at the Linn of Dee.
The Linn is worth a pause, a pretty bridge crosses the Dee at a narrow chasm set amongst fine tall pines. It was a spot apparently beloved of Queen V herself, and sometimes rather too popular with coach parties.
You could take the road over the bridge which leads to Braemar, but better to head left and stick to this side of the valley. After 6km the end of the road is reached at the Linn of Quoich: Continue straight on onto tracks, through forest and moor at the edge of the flat. You will see Braemar across the valley, but can’t reach it as there is no bridge. The track starts to rise and fall, follow signs at several junctions to “Brig O’Dee”. Keep on past Invercauld House until the cottages at Keiloch (small public car park). If you reach the main road (by Invercauld Bridge - another Wade bridge and worth a look) then you’ve gone a little too far. Instead follow the sign to “Inver via Felagie”. This climbs a little to a gentle side valley between moor and forest, before gently descending to tarmac and the main road at Inver.
You must now head left on the main road for around 4km to Crathie, where HM attends church when at Balmoral. You will see the castle itself across the river. At Crathie turn right (signed South Deeside Road). Take this quiet and pretty road through forest and pasture for around 12km, until a bridge leads over the river once more to Ballater.
Quite a long and hard day. There possibilities for alternative endings to this day, avoiding most of the road, though these probably make it too long for most. Find the chip shop, its pretty good.
A full day to finish with a gentle start, a big up-and-over, a huge descent, and a long tail. Start by finding the old railway station in the middle of town and behind it take the path east. Follow this (the bed of the railway, about as easy as off-road MTB gets) for around 10 slightly downhill km to the hamlet of Dinnet. At the crossroads take the minor road south and over the Dee, then left. Less then 1km later take the track on the right (to Tillycairn) which climbs steadily (good surface), then at the summit becomes tarmac. As you roar off downhill, try to avoid blindly following tarmac as we did: Instead at the sharp left bend there is a gate ahead which should lead on the level above Glen Tanar House. If you miss this then a little ascent is required to skirt the buildings at Glen Tanar House. Take the main track through scenic forest up Glen Tanar.
The track climbs gently through a mixed forest, partly natural and partly planted, alongside the river past the small ruin of Half Way House. The forest gradually thins as the track emerges into the open. Keep along the river, crossing over and back on bridges. As the valley head comes close there are some ruins on the left, the one-time hostelry on this old trade route. Pause here and brace for the ascent. Wade the river, grasp the saddle firmly with one hand and start pushing, there is some 430m of height to gain.
There are some other paths up this hillside which I’ve not investigated. But they all have to ascend the same height in about the same distance. This one is eroded and rough, far too steep to ride, but height is gained rapidly. As the gradient eases you may consider riding but its probably not worth the effort just yet. Take the right fork (which may not be obvious depending on which exact line you are following - check the map) which bypasses the summit (Mount Keen, the most easterly Munro), at which point it is rideable. A long section of singletrack follows over the highest point (around 760m - almost as high as the Corrieyairack Pass), gradually turning to descent. To the west there are views of Lochnagar and the high Cairngorms beyond.
Where the badly eroded path from the summit joins from the left (repair imminent), you can begin to see the rest of your route, down into Glen Esk. Keep to the main track which becomes a truly fabulous long descent: Fast, a bit rocky, bit loose, with rises across it to divert water making cracking bumps to absorb. Hope you have good brakes, they’re going to get hot as some 450m of height must be lost. A pair of hairpins and soon a ford marks the bottom of the main descent. Soon you pass a building; make the short diversion to the Queen’s Well, a stone crown over a well - you’ll recognise it when you see it. Pause and exchange tales.
Keep to the main track, do not cross the river. It takes you to the road which you then take down the valley, a gentle pleasant descent through a wide valley of pastures.
You could do the remainder entirely on-road, but there are several alternatives using the track across the valley. For details you should consult Peter Koch-Osborne’s book, though we found one bridge had been replaced and no longer had a track to it as described in the book. We chose to cross the river just before Fernybank, about 3km after the Retreat Museum. Across the bridge a good track through Dalhastnie leads, after quite a distance (about 10km) through more pastures, to more tarmac. Take this to a bigger road and head right to Edzell, which has some shops and other facilities.
The home straight beckons: You are now done with the mountains and must complete the journey by heading for the coast. You may select your own route through the lanes to Montrose, still some 15km or so distant.
It seems a long while before the briny appears, and even longer to reach it. Follow signs to the “seaside splash” once in town to find a beach. Dabble those toes and feel smug. You’ve done it.
You can always make up your own route based on this, but here are some suggestions:
Day 4: From Invercauld Bridge it should be possible to ride down the south bank of the Dee as far as Connachat, then south (uphill), turning east to link up with the track which heads over a high col and descends to Glen Muick. There is then a good track on the left bank of the forest down Glen Muick to the Dee near Ballater. Bit of a brute to finish the day but should be good ride.
Alternatively it should be possible to ride along the south bank of the Dee from Invercauld bridge to Balmoral, though this is through the grounds of the castle. The estate are generally good with access but it would be worth checking with them first, especially if HM were to be in residence. A detour could be made to avoid passing close by the castle, adding a little climb.
Dividing the route into more or fewer days can only be done with difficulty, as there are so few towns en route. If you want a six day route, then pinch a couple of days from the Tour of the Cairngorms (a route I commend to you also) and substitute them for Day 4: From Kingussie north along Strath Spey, Ryvoan Pass, Abernethy Forest and on to Tomintoul, then via Glen Avon and Loch Builg, and down to the Dee near Ballater. An alternative 6-day version would break day 4 at Inverey YH (up the Dee from Braemar) and include the Glen Muick variant described above. Your choice.
There is plenty of good advice for long tours elsewhere, but a few thoughts here: Using panniers is great for general touring, but our experience is that they are not ideal for rough MTB routes. Several problems: They bounce up and down and trash pannier racks (pulling them apart at the welds holding the top rail to the down bars) and they get in the way when pushing up steep ground. I suggest that an arrangement whereby you can transfer the heavy items to a rucksack for uphill pushes is a good idea, and heavy items would be better on top of the rack rather than in a pannier. The ideal item is a Rackpack, which sits on top and can be worn as a rucksack when required. You’ll probably still need some panniers however.
Whatever you do, don’t use one of those racks which attach only to the seat post. Having seen two major failures of these now we conclude that they are bad news unless you’re travelling really light.
Each of the towns en route has a good range of accommodation. Kyle of Lochalsh can be a little restricted, we actually stayed over the bridge in Kyleakin on Skye (the White Heather Hotel). At Alltbeithe clearly there are no options, being a Youth Hostel in the middle of nowhere. You need a sleeping bag there. We used B&Bs in each town and were well served, but some also have a Youth Hostel nearby. http://www.syha.org.uk/
Best time of year is almost certainly May or early June: Plenty of daylight, generally dry weather (but be prepared for just about anything), outside the shooting seasons and before either the midges or tourists come out in force. As the route crosses several high passes, be prepared for mountain weather.
You will need a suite of OS maps: 33, 25, 34, 35, 43, 44, 45. The route does just encroach onto 26 but you could do without it, and 54 for the town of Montrose.
For detailed information there is a series of books entitle “The Glens of …………” various highland areas, by Peter Koch-Osborne, Cicerone Press, available in quite a few mountain kit shops. Based on personal research over quite a time, some information is now quite dated but most is basically still sound. You would need the books for Ross-shire, Great Glen, the Cairngorms and the Angus Glens for this route. They do not describe the Torgoyle Bridge to Ft Augustus section, nor the option through the Balmoral estate (Invercauld Bridge to Glen Muick). You don’t really need these but you may find them of interest especially if you want to vary the route.
I thought this was a cracking route, though perhaps you can make some improvements to it. If you really enjoy the mountains, with all the challenges and delights this brings, then this is worth a try. Hope you enjoy it.
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Last Updated 14-02-2005
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