Av. Trail Rating:
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Description:-
Head out of the car park along the Forestry Commission track, towards the start of the blue graded climbs. Bear left at tag 1 and start the gentle climb up the track to tag 2 and the start of the blue graded Muirhead climb.
This is a gentle and pleasant climb winding it's way up the hill through the forest. The trail has a well compacted base, and presents no difficulty.
You emerge at tag 3 back onto the FC track. Turn left and cross the public road and onto the singletrack trail at tag 4 that runs alongside the tarmac road. This is a flowing little descent down to tag 5 where you join the forestry track again, and the start of the Firth View climb at tag 6.
This is another gentle climb on a good grippy compact surface, that takes you to the top of the hill and a view point over the Moray Firth at tag 8. You get another flowing descent off the back of the hill to tag 9, where you start to climb again in the trees, to the top of the trail at tag 10. From here it's another fast flowing descent with a few opportunities for jumps as you speed down to tag 11 where you emerge back on to the FC track.
Turn right up the track to the public road at tag 12, and head along the road to tag 13 and turn back on to the FC track again. Take a left at tag 14 and follow this FC track along the back of Callachy Hill. This one can be muddy and slippery, but he FC have done some work on it to improve it a bit recently.
At tag 15 turn off the track back onto the singletrack again. Watch out for this one - there is a sign but it's easily missed if you're unfamiliar with the place, just look out for the mobile phone mast off to your right in the woods and you'll see the path ok. Follow the short section of singletrack to the top of the Callachy climb at tag 16, and a choice of descents.
You have the blue Callachy downhill or the orange Bike Park descent to pick from. I usually do the blue first, saving the best bit for last !
Turn right onto the Callachy descent. This is a twisting & turning descent, tight in places, through the woods which is great fun if you can nail it properly. Make a mistake though and it robs you of your speed for a bit, as there's no cutting corners as there are usually logs marking the apex of each one, keeping you to the trail. It's mostly hardpacked, but there are a few areas prone to mud as well, just to keep you on your toes !
You emerge onto the FC track at tag 17, where you turn left downhill and take another left at tag 18, taking you along the level section of track below the orange descent on the hill to your left. Follow this track to tag 19 where you turn off and start the Callachy climb back up the hill again. This turn off comes on you suddenly, and it's quite easy to only spot it at the last minute as you pass it at speed on the track.
The Callachy climb is a bit longer than the Muirhead climb, and a bit steeper here and there. The surface is hard packed and offers no problems though, apart from a few places where FC machinery has crossed the path during recent clearing works, where it gets a bit muddy for a few rolls of the wheels.
You emerge at tag 20 at the top of the hill again, where you turn left onto the orange downhill. From tag 20 to 21 this is a fast and flowing trail with bermed corners and some ramps and jumps to be taken at speed. The track is a little rough in places though, as there are a few rocks sticking through the surface here and there, so you need to keep a careful eye on your line from time to time.
From tag 21 to 22 there's a long straight downhill with several table tops one after the other. The trail here is a lot smoother than further up, and offers plenty of grip. The 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th ( I think ! ) table tops all have a longer flat top so you can't fly over the flat section, but they have a step off the back of them onto the downhill run off which is too big to roll, so if you go for it you need to fly off the top.
They all have a chicken run off to the right though which you can roll if you don't fancy the air time. They are also marked on the approach with a post pointing out the red or black graded option.
You emerge back onto the FC road at tag 23, where the green return route to the car park takes you back to the starting point.
There's a black run here as well, which I've not included. I'll add it as a second route sometime soon if no-one else beats me to it.
Briefly, if you continue downhill on the FC track at tag 6, you'll see the start of the black route on your left as it turns into the trees. It runs back and forth across Learnie Hill, emerging back onto the same FC track a little further down the from the start point. You can also just do the black climb, and when you emerge from the trees at the top of the hill, cut across the boggy grass to tag 7 and rejoin the blue climb just before the viewpoint.