trailriding in scotland???
 

does anyone still trailride/greenlane regularly in scotland,used to be scotland articles in TBM a few years ago,anyone know anyone? or is there any online groups ect..?,dont want to start a debate weither its legal or not!!,just wondering if anyone still trailrides in scotland,

looks like im the only person trailriding in scotland then!!!,oh well suits me having trails to myself!!

i didnt think you could?
i used to be into 4x4s and everyone said there were no greenlanes etc north of the border.

i wish!
 

Yeh I'd love to join you.. There is nothing I would like more than to go trail riding in Scotland, but I recently bit the bullet and traded my XChallenge in for a 650GStwin.
I didn't really want to trade it in however every time I left tarmac on the XChallenge all I found was locked gates. A farmers shot gun and an asault from the ramblers association forced my hand.
If you can give me some pointers, I might just go and buy some new tyres for the GS..

Dunno how far north you are, but just south of the border, we have loads of trails, and they are open. I regularly do about 120 miles on a weekend with almost half of that off-road. There are some stonking lanes around Alston.

Never quite figured the Ramblers Ass.'s out - they appear to have the belief that it's thier playground and no-one elses. Had the same problems when I rode MoutainBikes, never did figure them out, and yet they are happy to destroy the paths of the lakeland fells...............

There is only one green lane in Scotland, the Corrieyairack Pass which runs from just south of Fort Augustus to Melgarve West of Laggan in Speyside. Apart from that all there is are forestry roads which strictly speaking you're not allowed to go biking on.

Hey, "Yoashman" is looking for trailriding buddies is Scotland, maybe hook up with him and see what you can plan?

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/yamaha-tech/

the thread is 'Scotland anyone???' and he's based in Moray.

Hope this helps.
P.s , ramblers are great people for it gives you something to smile and nod at when riding past their tired and sweaty asses! ha ha ha!
Bobble hat anyone.....?

Hi Frogwell,

Am intrigued. Do you know if this is easy access etc? Any problems with landowners? How long is the route?

Matt :)

Nevis Sport in Aviemore used to have a poster for some local lads that offered to take people out or give them some local advice. They did have a website but I couldn’t find the right bit of scrap paper on my return. There used to be a GS parked outside so it may not be the kind of thing you are hoping for but it’s a start.

I rode this road a few years back with some friends, me on f650 Dakar. One of them phoned up the organisation incharge of the pass, (I think the Royal commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland). They seemed a bit vague as to whether it was actually illegal to ride it, just said we "shouldn't" because of it's historical importance.

It's a great road and pretty tough in places (river bed, huge rocks) if you are taking a large trailie. Took us 4 hrs to do 17miles.
Met a few walkers (who overtook us in some places) but everyone was friendly.

At the Fort Augustus end, we did run into one local who was not happy at all. There were also 4x4's there that day (they had to turn back due to bollards).

I too think it's a shame there are no trails open for us. There seems to be a general feeling that opening up trails to bikes will destroy the countryside but I disagree. You just have to go to other countries that don't have such strict rules to see that its all nonsense.

If anyone is up for trying to organise something in Scotland if they can find somewhere to go, I know a few riders that would be up for it.

I’d be keen to try and get out in some shape or form – a newbie, and on a massive VStrom so it would have to be easy for me! One of my mates has had his Landrover up the pass a few times. Not regularly though.

I’m in the same boat as you in terms of access. I’m used to outdoors stuff like climbing and mountaineering and totally respect the whole land access / respect / environmental damage thing but I also think there should be space for everyone to enjoy their thing. I used to do a lot of wakeboarding at a club but that’s another thing where as far as I know there are very few lochs in Scotland you can take a private boat and we’ve got plenty of them! I wouldn’t want to see 24V 6L speedboats (erm, if you get such a thing) hooning up every loch in the country but there’s plenty of them around to have a balance. Same goes for the forest tracks that lead into some amazing places here.

Yeah i rode this rode to on my trusty DR350 and i seem to recall that i was the only one not to fall off!! Eh neebs?:thumbup1: It was a right good laugh but hard going in bits.

only one legal trail in scotland???, what???
 

what are you bumbling on about?,been riding trails in scotland for years,got every OS map of scotland and there are loads,do you think cause they aint signed as such they arnt a road?,there are hundreds of unclassified unmaintained roads(statue highways) everywhere,some short and easy some long and technical,didnt you read TBM magazine years ago?,or maybe i was just imagining i was out on my bike when i wrote those articles ,never been hasseld,never threatend with prosecution etc..,use some commonsense where you go at what time of year.loads of lanes start and finish on country roads.the more you put into researching and field work the more you will find, P.S, i dont take people out trailriding as sometimes they return with large groups on enduro machinery with motocross tyres,thats not trailriding.

Hey, just a bit about the Corrieyairack Pass. I drove up there the other day from the Laggen side, the tarmac comes to an end and you carry on on dirt track for about 300 or 400 meters to a large bothy. Here the land owner has put a locked chain across the track and put hay bales up each side to stop 4x4s going round, a bike could get past though. I stopped there and had a look in the bothy, I wasnt palnning on going any further that day anyway. I sat on the old bridge next to the bothy for lunch and a land rover wiith the estates stalkers and "gentry guests" pulled up, and just staired at the bike, asked me where I was going 3 times each time I said I was headed home soon, the last time I answered I also said "dont worry Im not going over the pass, they didnt once look at me, were very hostile, and then drove on. I am planning on riding the pass next year.