Gravel Routes in Sandaig, Scotland

Fort William Coast to Coast

Gravel route on Traill Dr, Sandaig, Angus Council, Scotland

"Total Terrain: "There are many beautiful coast-to-coast routes in Scotland, and we have a couple in our collection. The UK4 route was mapped out by Paul Rogers and starts near Glenelg on the coast of Kyle Rhea, and makes it way to Fort William and the Great Glen. At Fort Augustus it turns east to travel over the Cairngorms and ends at Montrose on the east coast. The ride as a whole is a great experience in true cross country riding. It runs up and down glens, crosses the Scottish watershed , and takes you through many different sceneries and some very remote places. Be prepared! The route is mostly off-road and on “land-rover” type tracks which can be ridden by those with technical skills suitable to blue grades at trail centres (though obviously with a lot more endurance required). However these are interspersed with some very technical “black” type sections: Day 1, the climb out of Corran and the descent into Kinloch Hourn is really difficult and requires a high degree of technical skill (“black grade”). A quote from Paul: “The descent is one of the steepest bits of track I have ever ridden and stayed upright”. Day 2, the Correyairack pass out of Fort Augustus runs to about 700m and although a reasonable surface, can be very difficult in bad weather. The alternative around the mountain is a very long ride on tarmac, close on 70 miles. The descent off the pass requires good technical skill as there are perhaps 30 - 50 drainage gullies to cross. Set your tyre pressures hard and take it steady. Red grade. Day 5, the climb of Mt Keen is tough and you should be prepared to push some or all of it. The route doesn't actually go over the summit, but on the shoulder just below it. The main descent is made up of quite large gravel/rocks and for the experienced mountain biker, is a lot of fun. Red/black . There is no formal site for this route, so you can download a zip file containing GPX for the full route here. Again, there is no definitive C2C, so for another version visit Mountain Bikes Routes UK who have a book for sale by Tim Woodcock. This has optional route diversions that will fit a variety of abilities.""