7 Shots from the 7 Stanes
My first real experience of mountain biking was at Glentress, one of the largest and probably the most well known, of the 7 Stanes trail centres in the Scottish borders, on a freezing, wet and filthily muddy November morning, some time in the mid-2000’s. It was a somewhat unintentional debut into an activity that I had little awareness of at the time. Up until that point, my main means of exploring the countryside with friends had been by foot, but an injury to my knee a few years prior that I hadn’t fully addressed, combined with too many hours sat at a desk, was resulting in knee and lower back pain that seemed to be exacerbated by hillwalking. Having moved up to Aberdeen from the flat lands of Norfolk only a year or two before, I was feeling frustrated that my ability to get out into the countryside was limited, and I thought that riding might provide an alternative mechanism to explore parts of Scotland. Not that riding trail centres is exploring exactly, but to be honest, at that time, I had little understanding of what a trail centre even was. I had never been to a ski resort so wasn’t familiar with the concept of graded trails, and since zipping around my neighbourhood on my Raleigh Sensor as a teenager, most of my cycling had been to get around town whilst at University. I had yet to be awakened to the potential of bikes for fun, exploration and long distance travel.
When I look back to this time, I often reflect on how mountain biking is a sport with a high resistance to entry. Unless you already ride regularly, it’s physically demanding in some fairly unique ways, and you usually start without good technique, without decent gear, and often with a bike that is heavy and poorly equipped. I imagine that the first experience must, for many people, be a little off-putting. And so it was for me. I had bought a cheap aluminium hardtail with cable disc brakes, steep geometry and heavy suspension forks that hardly provided much actual suspension. This was the first time I’d ever really ridden off-road on anything more technical than parkland, and I had no skills, and not even an understanding of what the techniques were that I was missing. That first run around the red route at Glentress was brutal. Just getting up to the top of the trails in the cold rain and mud was exhausting, both when trying to ride and when the only option was to push. On the way down, my hands were permanently locked into a claw, forearms throbbing, as I hung onto the levers of my ineffective brakes, trying to maintain some kind of control, and not break any bones.
I don’t remember what led me to return to Glentress after that initial ride - perhaps I just followed friends like a sheep those first few times - but something must have appealed because the bike became my main mechanism for getting into the outdoors over the next few years. Although, even now, I’m not a particularly skilled or fast rider, my fitness did eventually improve, and I began to really enjoy the thrill of following friends down these trails, instead of fearing them. I hired better bikes a few times, before buying a GT Avalanche, and then a few years later one of the first iterations of the Commencal Meta (which was completely not the right bike for me, but you live and learn….).
Aberdeen was my home for around 8 years, during which time I got to know most of the 7Stanes centres, as well as others in central and southern Scotland (Laggan Wolftrax deserving of an honourable mention). Little characteristics of each centre are imprinted in my memory, subjective snapshots of each place that are fleshed out again each time I revisit. Late in 2018 I spent a week riding most of the trail centres again, with a friend, this time taking a camera to capture a few images. One from each centre is shared below, along with a little information about the centre. These are not my favourite parts of the trails, or images that particularly reflect the nature of the trails at each centre the best. They are just a few images that I did manage to capture that are sharp and with reasonable composition! Some of these images were originally featured in an article by Beth Hodge on the Ritchey blog, but at the time I didn’t get around to posting any here.
Ae, near Dumfries
One of the first times I rode at Ae, I was feeling under the weather and completely bonked part way around. Consequently, I think it’s always had a feeling of the epic about it. Built on either side of the Water of Ae valley, the trail snakes up and down the valley side, sometimes depositing you in thick forest, and at others, hoisting you above the treetops (below). The options for mixing it up only really exists in the first quarter of the trail, as the red route then loops out far up the valley before returning on the other side, culminating in a long, thrilling finale.
Trails: 13.5 km Green (beginner); 13.5 km Blue (Moderate); 24 km Red (difficult) with a few short black options; 2.6 km Orange (extreme / downhill) option.
Facilities: Parking, toilets, showers, cafe, bike shop, bike wash, bike hire.
Dalbeattie, near Dumfries
Rocks are what I mostly recall about Dalbeattie. There is less up and down compared to some of the other centres, but most of the trails integrate substantial amounts of granite features to catch you out, or catch your rear mech (as they did to mine during this visit). The intimidating ‘Slab’, a steep granite chunk criss-crossed with striations that I only ever seem to come across in the wet and therefore have never had the guts to ride, is one of those features that, unless you’re a very confident rider, you may sit and look at for a while as you debate whether to attempt it or leave it for another day…
Trails: 11.5 km Green (easy); 14 km Blue (moderate); 25 km Red (moderate) with some optional Black features; 4 km Blue and Red taster loops.
Facilities: Parking, bike wash, sometimes a cafe in the carpark.
Glentress, near Peebles
For me, the original 7 Stanes trail centre, although actually it’s not the first that was established. But it was the closest to Aberdeen and the place that I visited most, and is big and varied enough to keep you entertained for a full day (or two). Much of the initial climb up that was mostly fireroad when I first visited, has now been worked into singletrack cleverly designed to progressively warm you up. The ‘top’ is the drop into the iconic Spooky Wood (pictured below) which is the smooth, bermed, swoopy introduction to the red trails. These reds, many of which are a little rougher, and the two smooth blue loops can be ridden sequentially or mixed up together using multiple fire-road connections to create your own perfect loop. The long black trail heads off into the wilderness much more, with a get-out link back to the red half way around. There are also a couple of green graded beginner loops. The iconic cafe-in-a-container in the car park, that revitalised wet and muddy riders with bowls of hot soup, chunks of bread and great slices of carrot cake behind steamy windows is no longer, but has been replaced by a much bigger, more modern visitor centre with cafe and showers.
Just across the valley is Innerleithen - technically a separate centre with a four orange (downhill) trails and a red loop, that I’ve never ridden. Perhaps next time…
Trails: Glentress - 8 km Green (easy); 16 km Blue (moderate); 18 km Red (difficult) with some Black options; 29 km Black (severe); 1.4 km Orange (extreme/freeride). Innerleithen - 19 km Red (difficult) with black optional section; Four 1.5-2 km Orange (extreme/downhill).
Facilities: Parking, toilets, showers, cafe, bike shop, bike wash, bike hire.
Glentrool, in Galloway
This was the first time I’d ridden at Glentrool, and its a very different experience to the other centres. This does feel like you’re heading out to explore - the main route is a forest and gravel road loop that takes you into the heart of the Galloway Forest Park, which makes for a really beautiful day out. If you want to make things really epic, there is a link with the end of the Kirroughtree black, so you can combine both trails.
Trails: 6 km Green (easy); 9 km Blue (moderate); 58 km Big Country Route (non technical).
Features: Parking, toilets, seasonal cafe at the Glentrool trailhead. Also all the facilities of the Kirroughtree trailhead nearby.
Kirroughtree, in Galloway
The Twister red route is a natural feeling, swoopy, winding-through-the-forest, 17km out-and-back red route that was always one of my favourites, and that starts snaking up through the trees immediately you leave the car park, and. which is littered with technical rock features to focus your attention. The black trail branches off from the half way point of the red, almost doubling the distance to create an epic day out, and there’s also a shorter blue loop and a green intro loop.
Trails: 6km Green (easy); 14 km Blue (moderate); 17 km Red (difficult); 14 km Black (extreme).
Facilities: Parking, toilets, showers, cafe, bike shop, bike wash, bike hire.
Mabie, near Dumfries
Mabie has real mixture of trails, from big swoopy berms to flowing singletrack to technical northshore (boardwalk). It’s one of the centres that I sometimes struggle to recall, having only visited a handful of times, but which then comes flooding back when I do visit and remember how much fun it is.
Trails: 8 km Green (easy); 10 km Blue (moderate); 19.2 km Red (difficult), as well as a skills park with dirt jumps and northshore.
Facilities: Parking, toilets, bike wash.
Newcastleton, near the Borders
A smaller centre than the others, the highlight of which is fast and narrow singletrack criss-crossing the beautiful forest of Hidden Valley.
Trails: 9.7 km Blue (moderate); 23.4 km Red (difficult).
Facilities: Parking, toilets & cafe in Newcastleton town.
And there we have it: 7 shots from the 7 Stanes. I’ve cheated a little here, because the title image at the top of this page is an additional photo from Ae, and the footer image below is an extra one from Mabie. Full details of these trail centres are available on the Forestry and Land Scotland Website. Each centre has its own page (links above) with pdf maps showing all of the trails and facilities. If you haven’t ridden at any of these centres yet, its well worth the effort, whatever your experience level. But perhaps avoid making your first visit on a cold, muddy, wintry November…