We head to Scotland for a long weekend in the Cairngorms, where we find that Ballater has routes for all abilities, from family bimbles to tough enduro tracks
This Scottish village is the gateway to some of the eastern Highlands’ best mountain biking, making it the perfect base for a weekend riding trip
The River Dee starts its journey in the mountains, fed by melting snow. From there, it runs east through some of Scotland’s most majestic scenery, down to Aberdeen. In its magnificent valley lies Ballater, once best-known for its spring water. The village has long been a popular haunt of walkers and wildlife lovers, but now it’s quickly making a name for itself as a mountain biking hotspot, with good facilities and some superb riding on its doorstep.
Blue mountains
A good way to start is with our ‘Ballater Blue’ loop. This easy introduction to the area takes in some remote mountain trails and scenery, before a long, fast-flowing singletrack descent, which is great fun but never too tricky or technical. More experienced riders can spice up the end of the ride by adding in the enduro-style trails of Cnoc Dubh and Mastermind.
Pedalling out of Ballater, we follow the main Braemar road, but it’s not long before we peel off onto a minor road up Glen Gairn, slowly warming up our legs and gaining some easy height at the same time. Eventually the tarmac gives way to a 4x4 track, which leads us onto a wild and barren
hillside, totally silent but for our laboured breathing. Thankfully, the mountain peaks stretching off into the distance are catching the morning sunlight and offer distraction from our physical efforts as the stony track leads us deeper and deeper into the hills.
After heading east, splashing through fords and skirting the foot of Morven – an imposing 871m peak, which looms menacingly over us – we turn south in search of the Culsten Burn valley, where we’ll find the wonderful, flowing, 4km descent that’ll return us to Ballater. This was formerly a 4x4 track but has now closed up to become narrow singletrack, which glides down the hillside and, despite never throwing up anything too technical, is a hoot to ride flatout – if you can tear your eyes from the view.
Towards the bottom, the trail dives into the trees, dazzling us with an explosion of colour, from lush greens to a variety of golds, browns and yellows, as we weave through the fallen leaves littering the now steeper and twistier singletrack. It’s a wonderful finale to the ride, with just an easy spin back to Ballater along the Deeside Way cycle trail still to come – although we find it all too easy to talk ourselves into sampling some of the other trails that are just a short pedal away. Eventually though, we succumb to the lure of the village’s fabulous cafes and head back for coffee and cake.
Enduro antics
The next day, we again join the Deeside Way cycle trail, for an easy, leg-warming spin down the beautiful Dee Valley, where the morning mist is hovering over the river. Today’s ‘All Enduro’ route won’t ever venture very far from the village, but it’ll not disappoint anyone looking for fun, technical stuff, as it delivers a range of great trails and gives a whole new meaning to ‘epic’ riding.
Heading off the path and into the woods, we climb the steep valley side and are soon delivered to the top of Cnoc Dubh, where a clearing offers us fantastic views across the tranquil Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve. In the clearing are some large rock slabs, which offer a short distraction and chance to play around before we set off down the hillside on the Cnoc Dubh Descent. It’s a fun, natural-feeling run, which weaves through the trees, flitting over roots and around worn corners. We hit some nice high speeds, our eyes doing their best to pick out the next corner in time.
At the end of this descent, we follow a track back up the hill, unwilling to linger as we go, because of the huge, swarming anthills scattered throughout the woods. Thankfully, the fast Roller Coaster track isn’t far away and quickly leads us back down the hill, whooping and hollering with excitement. After climbing up the Burn O’Vat valley, we drop back down to rejoin the Deeside Way, but not before a quick visit to the Riverside Cottage cafe just here.
With our caffeine and cake levels replenished, we hit the trail, aiming for Mastermind – an enduro route lovingly crafted by local riders. After a long (2.5km),
THE MOUNTAIN PEAKS STRETCHING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE ARE CATCHING THE MORNING SUNLIGHT AND OFFER DISTRACTION FROM OUR EFFORTS AS THE STONY TRACK LEADS US DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE HILLS
GLORIOUS VIEWS OF MOUNTAIN PEAKS ARE REPLACED BY THE SIGHT OF THE SHIMMERING LOCH AS WE DESCEND. THE COOL WATER AND QUIET BEACHES ARE NOW VERY INVITING
steep forest-track climb leads us to the radar mast at the top, we take a moment to regain our composure, before seeking out the singletrack tucked away behind a storage unit. The twisty, rooty trail is no pushover, especially when damp, with numerous sharp corners plus trees that are fiendishly close to the trail and eager to catch our bars. It’s a hoot to ride though, with great variety and flow. As it opens out and gets faster towards the end, our tired arms are pleading for us to release the brake levers, but we need to keep our wits about us, as the peppering of rocks would happily catch us out.
This time we follow the Deeside Way all the way back into Ballater, make a hurried pit-stop at a cafe, then continue on our way once more, in search of Monkey Balls. The trail leads us to the top of Pannanich Hill, where our final run of the day awaits us – Heartbreak Ridge. After catching our breath and enjoying the panoramic views, we join some narrow, faint singletrack along the ridgetop. This slither of trail seemingly leads nowhere, but actually cuts through the heather on a good stone-based track, with a few rocks along the way. When we finally crest the last cnoc (hillock), the trail heads down some large rock slabs, which, thankfully, are extremely grippy.
It’s an amazing trail and, even after the fast ending – which sees us zip down between the trees and leap off grassy knolls – there’s still some forested singletrack to enjoy. This route could easily be extended with a play-around on the trails in Craig Coillich, on the way back, or even a loop out west, to ride The Green Mile by Alltcailleach Forest, but we’re spent, and eager to refuel and recuperate before tackling Loch Muick tomorrow.
An epic day in the saddle
Our final ‘Big Day Out’ route starts 8km south-west of Ballater, on the shores of the popular upland, freshwater Loch Muick. There are a few possible variations to this loop, making it adaptable to suit your ride requirements or, like today, to fit in with the weather conditions. The simplest route is just to circumnavigate the loch, and possibly include an ascent up the Lightning trail and back down the Corrie Chash. On a fine day, fit and skilled riders may also like to extend it out onto the remote hillsides and try the technical descent from Lochnagar. The standard (in the loosest sense) route is an epic enough day for most though, and a decent challenge in today’s weather.
We start off climbing away from the loch on the Capel Road trail before descending steeply down the far side on a twisting track. This fluctuates between grass and rock, keeping us on our toes, before pushing on through the woods and delivering us to the remote Glen Clova. After heading up the valley, a cruel hike-a-bike up the northern side awaits, but once on the smooth, flowing
Corrie Chash trail over the top, all is quickly forgiven (and forgotten).
This trail starts smoothly (if you disregard the numerous drainage ditches, which require bunnyhopping) before winding its way between some boulders and becoming narrower and rockier. A drop to the left keeps the heart-rate high, while glorious views of mountain peaks are replaced by the sight of the shimmering loch as we descend. The cool water and quiet beaches are now very inviting, so we plunge aching arms and legs into the loch, before a spin back around the edge delivers us back to the car park to bring an end to this fabulous ride.