by IanE
Paths Less Gravelled
11 routes
10:27
1,218km
14,810m
This is a collection of the best gravel routes I've ridden in Scotland over the last 4 or 5 years. It will also (I hope!) be added to as I ride some new routes I have planned for 2025 onwards... I've called it 'Paths Less Gravelled' mostly as the name just popped in to my head one day and I liked the sound of it, but I hope it describes something of the nature of the routes.
Clearly all of the trails plotted and linked together to form these routes have been ridden by SOMEBODY before me, and some of the routes have also been spotted by other keen route planners and ended up in guidebooks (see 'Glen Almond and the Holy Grail', a variation of which appears in 'Gravel Rides Scotland' AND the classic 'Mountainbike Scotland') or cropping up on social media at various intervals when somebody else joins the dots and rides that perfect loop (see 'The Dalwhinnie Classic', which I've never seen in a guidebook but must be one of the best and most continuous 130km loops in Scotland).
Other routes were perhaps classics a long time ago, if you'll excuse the '90s Mountainbike classic' cliche. Glen Kinglass was a popular through route, and apparently more rugged back then, but there are still challenges on the slabs and river crossings, all gravellable for the experienced rider (less so the at-times horrible but necessary hike-a-bike along the shores of Loch Etive, sadly).
The Evanton Loop, another contender for 'most continuous' gravel loop, with even fewer boggy bits than the Dalwhinnie Loop and even more spectacular scenery, was borne of my attempts at a 2-day coast-to-coast-to-coast from Evanton to Ullapool and back using parts of the classic Bonar Bridge - Ullapool Coast to Coast, but adding gravel and omitting some tarmac. These attempts failed (twice) but this loop was the fallback option, and I'm glad it was!
More local to me, the McDuff's Cross loop was just pure curiosity and an opportunity to link together a bunch of different bits of trail that had caught my eye (and an intriguing sounding historical site). Something about it though draws me back, maybe just the memories of the particularly humid and overgrown mid-summers day I chose to ride it.
Perhaps my personal favourite though is the most elusive (and potentially most dangerous) through-route along the River Findhorn, via the Burma Road and home through the Ryvoan Pass. Whilst GREAT CARE must be taken to only attempt this with low water levels in the Findhorn, it offers a fantastic, rolling and wild loop on some well trodden trails and some less well trodden. Prepare for everything!
Ultimately I think ALL of these routes represent true 'Scottish' gravel. The Dalwhinnie route is perhaps an outlier for being almost entirely 'good' gravel, with only two short wet or boggy sections, but even then some might find the intermittent rubble alongside Loch Garry, or the sand traps of Lochan na h'Earba, to be a bit testing. The Glen Kinglass Epic has everything from glorious singletrack road through Glen Lonan, to slabs, log bridges, cobbled military roads and the unfortunate prolonged and rocky hike-a-bike below the Trilleachan Slabs. It is only included in this collection for being so spectacular and wild, but not for those with a delicate constitution or lacking a sense of humour...
Typically however on any route you should expect varying quality of farm track, forestry track, landrover track, singletrack, boggy bits, rocky bits and road. These are all part of the rich tapestry that is riding a gravel bike in Scotland (or is that just me?). And yes, I take no pride in plotting routes with hike-a-bike, but it is an occasional and necessary evil.
Enjoy, I look forward to reading the comments or meeting some of you out on the trails.
DISCLAIMER
For the most part these are the routes as I rode them. Where I took a wrong turn, or realised later that there was an obvious and better alternative to a section I rode, I might have tweaked short sections. However, two or three of the routes are composites of different routes and rides, so whilst I won't have ridden the route as it is presented here, be assured I have ridden every section of trail within the route! I will try to highlight this within each route description.
Clearly all of the trails plotted and linked together to form these routes have been ridden by SOMEBODY before me, and some of the routes have also been spotted by other keen route planners and ended up in guidebooks (see 'Glen Almond and the Holy Grail', a variation of which appears in 'Gravel Rides Scotland' AND the classic 'Mountainbike Scotland') or cropping up on social media at various intervals when somebody else joins the dots and rides that perfect loop (see 'The Dalwhinnie Classic', which I've never seen in a guidebook but must be one of the best and most continuous 130km loops in Scotland).
Other routes were perhaps classics a long time ago, if you'll excuse the '90s Mountainbike classic' cliche. Glen Kinglass was a popular through route, and apparently more rugged back then, but there are still challenges on the slabs and river crossings, all gravellable for the experienced rider (less so the at-times horrible but necessary hike-a-bike along the shores of Loch Etive, sadly).
The Evanton Loop, another contender for 'most continuous' gravel loop, with even fewer boggy bits than the Dalwhinnie Loop and even more spectacular scenery, was borne of my attempts at a 2-day coast-to-coast-to-coast from Evanton to Ullapool and back using parts of the classic Bonar Bridge - Ullapool Coast to Coast, but adding gravel and omitting some tarmac. These attempts failed (twice) but this loop was the fallback option, and I'm glad it was!
More local to me, the McDuff's Cross loop was just pure curiosity and an opportunity to link together a bunch of different bits of trail that had caught my eye (and an intriguing sounding historical site). Something about it though draws me back, maybe just the memories of the particularly humid and overgrown mid-summers day I chose to ride it.
Perhaps my personal favourite though is the most elusive (and potentially most dangerous) through-route along the River Findhorn, via the Burma Road and home through the Ryvoan Pass. Whilst GREAT CARE must be taken to only attempt this with low water levels in the Findhorn, it offers a fantastic, rolling and wild loop on some well trodden trails and some less well trodden. Prepare for everything!
Ultimately I think ALL of these routes represent true 'Scottish' gravel. The Dalwhinnie route is perhaps an outlier for being almost entirely 'good' gravel, with only two short wet or boggy sections, but even then some might find the intermittent rubble alongside Loch Garry, or the sand traps of Lochan na h'Earba, to be a bit testing. The Glen Kinglass Epic has everything from glorious singletrack road through Glen Lonan, to slabs, log bridges, cobbled military roads and the unfortunate prolonged and rocky hike-a-bike below the Trilleachan Slabs. It is only included in this collection for being so spectacular and wild, but not for those with a delicate constitution or lacking a sense of humour...
Typically however on any route you should expect varying quality of farm track, forestry track, landrover track, singletrack, boggy bits, rocky bits and road. These are all part of the rich tapestry that is riding a gravel bike in Scotland (or is that just me?). And yes, I take no pride in plotting routes with hike-a-bike, but it is an occasional and necessary evil.
Enjoy, I look forward to reading the comments or meeting some of you out on the trails.
DISCLAIMER
For the most part these are the routes as I rode them. Where I took a wrong turn, or realised later that there was an obvious and better alternative to a section I rode, I might have tweaked short sections. However, two or three of the routes are composites of different routes and rides, so whilst I won't have ridden the route as it is presented here, be assured I have ridden every section of trail within the route! I will try to highlight this within each route description.
Visibility:
Anyone
Activities
Sign Up To Discover Places Like This
Get recommendations on the best single tracks, peaks, & plenty of other exciting outdoor places.
Sign up for free
132km
1,300m
1,300m
96.5km
890m
880m
70.7km
810m
810m
108km
1,320m
1,330m
58.3km
03:12
870m
880m
139km
07:15
1,390m
1,370m
Collection Stats
Activities
11
Distance
1,218 km
Duration
10:27 h
Elevation
14,810 m
Create your own Collection
Learn more
Comments
Want to know more?
Sign up for a free komoot account to join the conversation.
Sign up for free