ARDVERIKIE FOREST, SCOTLAND

DISTANCE 38.5KM (23.9 MILES) CLIMBING 790M (2,591FT) TIME 3HRS 30MINS TO 5HRS

Route summary A scenic and remote ride exploring some quiet tracks. Nothing too technical, but there are no facilities, some tricky water crossings and surfaces that are prone to flooding

Start/finish Roadside car park on the A86 by Roy Bridge, over the River Spean (grid ref NN 433/830)

1 Go left on the A86 then immediately left, over the River Spean, through a gate. Follow the track left through another (big) gate, climb to a T-junction and go right. Follow around the hillside and keep left to reach Lochan na h-Earba. Cross a bridge and keep left, following the edge of the loch and continuing beside the next one until you reach the forest.

2 Head through a large kissing gate into the forest, keeping right/ahead and then right at the junction (or left to detour and see the Ardverikie Estate). At a forest track crossing, go straight ahead, then right at a T-junction shortly afterwards. You’ll soon come to another kissing gate and emerge into the open.

3 Keep ahead/right as another track joins, heading south, alongside the River Pattack (on your left). Keep following this for over 5km, crossing the water along the way and keeping right, close to the river, to Loch Pattack.

4 Turn right on a track down to, and around, the southern edge of the loch. Cross a wooden bridge, keep right and climb, then descend to cross the water (Allt Cam). Climb (with some hike-a-biking), with a burn on your left, not along the (flat) Allt Cam valley. Cross the burn and continue climbing to the left of Loch a’Bhealaich Leamhain.

5 Past the cli s and loch, descend on the grass track, ignoring all the others. Cross a burn, then go across the grass, left, to the track by a bridge at Lochan na h-Earba again. Cross the bridge, head left and follow the track back the way you came earlier, to return to the car park and finish.