7stanes

The 7stanes are seven mountain biking centres spanning the south of Scotland, from the heart of the Scottish Borders to Dumfries and Galloway. They are on Forestry Commission land and along with schemes in Wales are regarded as the benchmark by which further trails in the UK should be developed. They are known as the 7stanes because each venue will feature a 'stane' (Scots for stone) somewhere along the forest trails.

The 7stanes:
*Glentrool
*Kirroughtree, near Newton Stewart
*Dalbeattie
*Mabie
*Forest of Ae
*Tweed Valley - Glentress and Innerleithen
*Newcastleton

Trail Grades

The trails use the Cyclists' Touring Club off-road trail grades with an additional category called "Bike Park". Forest roads that are not graded can be of variable difficulty and are not part of a progression on to green and blue level singletrack trails.

*Green- Easy (relatively flat; suitable for beginners)
*Blue- Moderate (may be singletrack and include minor obstacles; suitable for cyclists with basic off-road skills)
*Red- Difficult (mostly singletrack, many obstacles; suitable for proficient mountain bikers)
*Black- Severe (similar to red routes, with more obstacles and large challenging area; suitable for expert riders only)
*Bike Park (Orange)- Extreme (highly challenging, includes downhill sections and unavoidable jumps; suitable for expert riders only)

The 7stanes sites

Glentrool

Located in Galloway. Glentrool includes one 58km route. The route takes on graded roads and ungraded forest roads - there's no singletrack. The 9km blue-graded route mixes forest road and singletrack trail, climbing 218m, and has a pacy 2.5km descent.

Kirroughtree

Located near Newton Stewart. Kirroughtree features green, blue, red and black trails as well as a skills area for practising mountain biking techniques. There is bike hire and a cafe open in the high season.

Dalbeattie

Located near Dumfries. This rocky site features a green-grade and blue-graded trail, along with a red-graded trail with optional black-graded sections. These include "The Slab", a challenging steep granite rock.

Mabie

Around 6.5km south of Dumfries, Mabie sports 4 trails- green, blue, red and orange (the Kona Dark Side, a North Shore trail). It also has a skills and freeride area. Cafe and bike hire on site.

Ae

Located around 14km north of Dumfries, Ae includes a red-grade route with optional black-graded areas and "bike park- extreme" downhill routes. There are green and blue trails for less experienced riders. Cafe, bike shop and shower facilities on site.

Glentress and Innerleithen

Comprises two nearby sites close to Peebles in the Scottish Borders. Glentress is one of the best-equipped mountain biking sites in the UK, with a cafe, bike hire shop and showering/changing facilities. Trails include a green, blue, red and black route. There is also the "skills loop"- a green-graded area (with blue-graded options) designed for those new to the sport and the "Freeride Park" which is graded bike park- extreme. This park is full of challenging technical features for experienced riders.

A few miles to the south-east, Innerleithen features a red-graded cross-country trail with plenty of black-graded features and a bike park-extreme graded downhill area. The downhill area is particularly challenging and riders are recommended to wear body armour and a full-face helmet.

Newcastleton

Located close to the Scotland-England border, this area includes a green skills loop, 2 blue-graded routes, a red-graded route and a bike park-extreme trail.

ee also

*Forestry Commission

External links

* [http://www.7stanes.gov.uk/ 7stanes Forestry Commission Scotland]
* [http://www.7stanes.com/ Information and accommodation]
* [http://www.scottishmountainbike.com Scottish Mountain Bike]