XC MTBing in Dumfries/Galloway

[battered]

I've never visited this area of the UK and it looks great. A pal and I are contemplating a weekend in autumn where we camp somewhere nearby and have one day at a 7 Stanes centre (Dalbeattie? Ae?) and another out in the wilds on a fairly lengthy cross country tour. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Veloscot]

I've never visited this area of the UK and it looks great. A pal and I are contemplating a weekend in autumn where we camp somewhere nearby and have one day at a 7 Stanes centre (Dalbeattie? Ae?) and another out in the wilds on a fairly lengthy cross country tour. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Dalbeattie, Ae and Mabie are all fantastic MTB trails. If you fancy a longer expedition, then head West a bit where you'll find the 7Stanes trail at Kirroughtree. It's possible to link this up with the longer trails at Glentrool. I've not ridden the latter but I have ridden at Kirroughtree and the trails here are among the best in the land. There are dozens of campsites in the area. Well worth a visit.

 

[battered]

Thanks, sounds good. One day at Dalbeattie or Ae is pretty well a cert.

As I say the plan is one day on the trails, one making it up ourselves. Any recommendations for off-the-beaten-track stuff, exploring some remote corner of the place?

 

[Theseus]

A few years ago I took part in an event called 7/24 where the name of the game was for teams of up to 4 riders to complete all 7 stanes and the road sections between in 24 hours. I was sharing the road work so I didn't get to ride any of the stanes. However, the overiding memory I had of Ae was the sheer volume of midges.

 

[GilesM]

Hi Battered

Good choice to head to this area, the trails centres are very good and defnately do not forget Drumlanrig castle, not one of the 7Stanes so easily missed, but a great route.

I've never ridden on natural trails in the area, but if you ask on here, somebody maybe able to help: http://www.mtb-borders.com/index.html

or if you can get in contact, there is a group called the Galloway HillBillies (sorry can't find link) who probably know that area well.

 

[Kirstie]

Of all of the 7 stanes trails in Dumfries and Galloway, Kirroughtree EASILY gives you the best bang for your buck. It's by far the most challenging trail and it has some great features, large and small. Of the others I most Mabie and Dalbeattie the most. I found Ae to be a bit tedious - but I went just after it opened - they may have tweaked/changed it since then.
I've just come back from a fantastic weekend's riding (too fast) at Glentress - an oldie but goodie...

 

[GilesM]

Of all of the 7 stanes trails in Dumfries and Galloway, Kirroughtree EASILY gives you the best bang for your buck. It's by far the most challenging trail and it has some great features, large and small. Of the others I most Mabie and Dalbeattie the most. I found Ae to be a bit tedious - but I went just after it opened - they may have tweaked/changed it since then.
I've just come back from a fantastic weekend's riding (too fast) at Glentress - an oldie but goodie...

I agree with you about Ae, it's not really the best trail, it has been improvd a bit recently and the final section of DH at the finish is fun, but overall, not my favourite. I really like Mabie.

Glentress is always perfect, I think the length of the Black run and the long descents make it very difficult to find anything better, and there is some good technical stuff towards the end, also, it's only 45 minutes drive from my house.

 

[battered]

Some great info there, thanks. I was at Glentress a few weeks ago with a mate, we did the black and red runs, excellent trails. We also had a day out exploring the hills just to the S of Glentress, which was very good also. I prefer this to prepared trails, my pal less so.

We'll wait until the end of the midge season before venturing to Ae!

I'll try contacting that Galloway group, I've been into climbing and biking since God was a lad, spent hundreds of weekends in the lakes and never been there so I should remedy that.