Off Road?

[murdo]

Hello Folks,
I am fairly new to biking and very new to the GS,
I got mine in Dec last year and have fallen in love!
So far ive been round most of Scotland and a chunk of Europe.
I am wanting to stretch my horizons a wee bit and take it off road,
is there any where in Scotland that allows us to "Greenlane?"
Cheers
Murdo.

 

[columbus]

Nearset place to get off tarmac will probably be the forest drive at the top of the dukes pass at aberfoyle.

 

[skyenet]

As you in Glasgow you are not that far from Dukes Pass at Aberfoyle. As well as the Dukes Pass itself which is excellent fun on a bike, there is also the Queen Elizabeth Park Lochs Forest Drive. Its very basic off roading but would give you the chance to get the hang of handling your bike on dusty, gritty and with the recent rain, some muddy trails. It was one my first runs on my GS and there is more info/photos on the following thread.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110294&highlight=dukes+pass

More info on the 3 Lochs Forest Drive here:

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/...estParkAchrayForestDukesPass3LochsForestDrive


Some more info about local good routes from Glasgow here:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191902

 

[EggChaser]

You can easily get to Leacainn Forest Drive (12 ish miles off tarmac) from Glasgow too - I did The 3 Lochs Drive above Aberfoyle and the Leacainn Drive when I was in Glasgow recently.

Garmin GPX files are buried in the bottom of this post (along with some pictures)
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1924820&postcount=27
Note: You should be able to head down through the borders to the one in Kielder from Glasgow too

Suggest reading this post for the Aberfoyle/Dukes Pass/3 Lochs Forest Drive
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1903896&postcount=7

and
this thread for Leacainn Forest Drive
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158414

 

[murdo]

Cheers for that guys,
I have taken the info, done a wee bit of research and found a few more forest drives,
Ardentinny,over Dunoon way,
Ardgarten just past Arrocher,
Glen Tress, near Peebles.
Glen Trool, Dumfries and Galloway. (Two separate drives, The Raiders Rd & Carrick Forest Drive)
Glen Branter, Near Stachur
has anyone hit these paths? and if so, what are they like?
M.

 

[Hermannator]

I dont think the forrest drive at Glentress is still in existance as it has been taken over by the mountain bike trails. There is a track up to the top car park though which is a mix of stone and gravel. The mountain bike trails look fun but I dont think they would appreciate having gs's going down them. The other forrest drives are fine but some can be a bit tricky when its wet with road tyres. There is also a drive at Kielder over to the A68. Most of them are only open between April and September and there is usually a charge for cars using them. I dont know if bikes are also supposed to pay but I have never stopped to ask. If you want to get into some of the enduro routes there are a number of green lanes south of the border in the Penines. The easiest access is from Hartside pass http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/hartside.htm. There is also Dere Street from Jedburgh to the border althouigh the last time I was there more restrictions were being imposed. Let me know if you are interested in going for an exploration of some of the off road routes. You might also want to consider putting on a set of knoblies if you havent done so already. There are a number of threads on these tyres on other parts of the site