7 Stanes newbie...trails & camping advice please!
Discussion
Just got back this evening. One word. WOW!!!!
Just a brilliant trip, if you have not been I can't recommend it enough. I did not think the scenery just over the border (without venturing to the Highlands) would be all that...how wrong I was! The trails are far, far emptier than the Welsh trails...and also far, far harder. Hoon down a Scottish red without being very cautious when a rock feature comes up at your peril! Some of the black stuff was just insane...we walked along some of the Kona Darkside at Mabie open jawed...until we came across the bees' nest under the planking...I guess it was not there by design!
It was great that there was a much, much higher percentage of singletrack per ride compared to most of the Welsh trails...I've done Dragon's Back at CYB and it seems like a breeze compared to the Kirroughtree black, which was much harder physically and mentally, even though the distances are the same. McMoab was brilliant!
Just a really nice vibe up there too, we stayed on various campsites and met some great people, sharing a beer round the fire with other like minded but totally new people was great. Midges...didn’t see any which was a relief, and we packed up from one campsite in a light drizzle, the rest of the week was fine (OK it did rain one day but we were doing a 100 mile country lane trip in the Landy between campsites and it brightened up when we got there), and we even got quite sunburnt!
If anyone else is planning or contemplating a trip, just do it. Here's what we did, it might help you, and it works really well if you want to take things at a fairly leisurely pace!
Saturday-drove from the Midlands to Peebles, camped at Rosetta. Quite busy, but the top field was almost exclusively MTBers, and there's a great bar onsite if it's raining. Free showers.
Sunday-planned on doing Innerleithen but did Glentress (10 mins from Rosetta) instead as Innerleithen had an uplift day and might be busy red (19k) and a bit of a mess about in the park. Spooky Wood…excellent! Top tip…deep fried Haggis from the chippie just off the high street is awesome!
Monday-Did Innerleithen red (18k). Helluva climb to start with, with lots of cheeky technical stuff, but the views at the top of Minch Moor, and the BMX style track were well worth it! Finished really well too, apart from my rear tubeless tyre was losing pressure through the sidewalls and I had to tube it…what a slimy mess. Top tip…carry a standard rimstrip as it was a nightmare getting it to sit straight with a tube on the Bonty UST system. Top tip…a precautionary blast with some weapons grade mossie rep carelessly applied melts helmets a bit. Even an S-Works 2D. Bugger.
Tuesday-packed up in drizzle and moved 100 miles west to a Dunroamin Farm at Kirkinner, just the cleanest campsite I’ve ever stayed in. Immaculate, modern shower block, very friendly owners, and beautiful estuary/sea views. Great drive over, plenty to see in the hills just off the M74 and the Galloway Forest.
Wednesday-Kirroughtree Black, 31k. Epic, epic trail. My favourite, definitely…even if I did miss the Stane! Top tip…ignore bloke in bike shop who says “about 3 hours to ride it”. McMoab alone took about 45 mins of falling off and trying to get video! Totally knackered by the end, was great to finish on a bit of blue with no chance of killing myself!
Thursday-day off. Went to some of the coastal villages around the area. Port William is nice, did not make it to the Mull of Galloway but worth it apparently…Scotland’s southernmost point. Moved campsite over to Beeswing, near Dumfries. Nice little site, showers were a bit inconsistent if very clean, again very helpful owners who do their very best to pitch the families with noisy kids, and MTBers/couples at opposite ends of the site. Great!
Friday-Mabie red 17k. Probably the least impressive scenery wise, but still a nice trail. Seemed very short after Kirroughtree, so had something left in the legs for a blast on the 4x track and skills loop, and a trip back over to the Dark Side (not part of the red trail). Loony stuff. Top tip…chamois cream on the kneecaps makes wearing the 661s a lot more comfy after a week of sweaty riding abuse!
Saturday-Dalbeattie red, 25k. A great trail…not brave enough for much of the black stuff, and got put off The Slab by hearing tales of gore from an instructor at the campsite! Damaging myself on the last day would not have been good. Defo getting the hang of some of the rocky stuff though by this time, Jacob’s ladder and part of Shaky Jakey were cool, although the Terrible Twins looked worse than The Slab!
Sunday…came home…BOO!
I hope the above is of use to someone planning a trip, thanks for all the advice given, and to chrisga for lending my other half the Recons of his singlespeeder as her new Toras had gone pop in under 100 miles!
Going back next year, this time for 2 weeks and with a DIY converted van so moving sites it less hassle…bring on the Highlands!
Just a brilliant trip, if you have not been I can't recommend it enough. I did not think the scenery just over the border (without venturing to the Highlands) would be all that...how wrong I was! The trails are far, far emptier than the Welsh trails...and also far, far harder. Hoon down a Scottish red without being very cautious when a rock feature comes up at your peril! Some of the black stuff was just insane...we walked along some of the Kona Darkside at Mabie open jawed...until we came across the bees' nest under the planking...I guess it was not there by design!
It was great that there was a much, much higher percentage of singletrack per ride compared to most of the Welsh trails...I've done Dragon's Back at CYB and it seems like a breeze compared to the Kirroughtree black, which was much harder physically and mentally, even though the distances are the same. McMoab was brilliant!
Just a really nice vibe up there too, we stayed on various campsites and met some great people, sharing a beer round the fire with other like minded but totally new people was great. Midges...didn’t see any which was a relief, and we packed up from one campsite in a light drizzle, the rest of the week was fine (OK it did rain one day but we were doing a 100 mile country lane trip in the Landy between campsites and it brightened up when we got there), and we even got quite sunburnt!
If anyone else is planning or contemplating a trip, just do it. Here's what we did, it might help you, and it works really well if you want to take things at a fairly leisurely pace!
Saturday-drove from the Midlands to Peebles, camped at Rosetta. Quite busy, but the top field was almost exclusively MTBers, and there's a great bar onsite if it's raining. Free showers.
Sunday-planned on doing Innerleithen but did Glentress (10 mins from Rosetta) instead as Innerleithen had an uplift day and might be busy red (19k) and a bit of a mess about in the park. Spooky Wood…excellent! Top tip…deep fried Haggis from the chippie just off the high street is awesome!
Monday-Did Innerleithen red (18k). Helluva climb to start with, with lots of cheeky technical stuff, but the views at the top of Minch Moor, and the BMX style track were well worth it! Finished really well too, apart from my rear tubeless tyre was losing pressure through the sidewalls and I had to tube it…what a slimy mess. Top tip…carry a standard rimstrip as it was a nightmare getting it to sit straight with a tube on the Bonty UST system. Top tip…a precautionary blast with some weapons grade mossie rep carelessly applied melts helmets a bit. Even an S-Works 2D. Bugger.
Tuesday-packed up in drizzle and moved 100 miles west to a Dunroamin Farm at Kirkinner, just the cleanest campsite I’ve ever stayed in. Immaculate, modern shower block, very friendly owners, and beautiful estuary/sea views. Great drive over, plenty to see in the hills just off the M74 and the Galloway Forest.
Wednesday-Kirroughtree Black, 31k. Epic, epic trail. My favourite, definitely…even if I did miss the Stane! Top tip…ignore bloke in bike shop who says “about 3 hours to ride it”. McMoab alone took about 45 mins of falling off and trying to get video! Totally knackered by the end, was great to finish on a bit of blue with no chance of killing myself!
Thursday-day off. Went to some of the coastal villages around the area. Port William is nice, did not make it to the Mull of Galloway but worth it apparently…Scotland’s southernmost point. Moved campsite over to Beeswing, near Dumfries. Nice little site, showers were a bit inconsistent if very clean, again very helpful owners who do their very best to pitch the families with noisy kids, and MTBers/couples at opposite ends of the site. Great!
Friday-Mabie red 17k. Probably the least impressive scenery wise, but still a nice trail. Seemed very short after Kirroughtree, so had something left in the legs for a blast on the 4x track and skills loop, and a trip back over to the Dark Side (not part of the red trail). Loony stuff. Top tip…chamois cream on the kneecaps makes wearing the 661s a lot more comfy after a week of sweaty riding abuse!
Saturday-Dalbeattie red, 25k. A great trail…not brave enough for much of the black stuff, and got put off The Slab by hearing tales of gore from an instructor at the campsite! Damaging myself on the last day would not have been good. Defo getting the hang of some of the rocky stuff though by this time, Jacob’s ladder and part of Shaky Jakey were cool, although the Terrible Twins looked worse than The Slab!
Sunday…came home…BOO!
I hope the above is of use to someone planning a trip, thanks for all the advice given, and to chrisga for lending my other half the Recons of his singlespeeder as her new Toras had gone pop in under 100 miles!
Going back next year, this time for 2 weeks and with a DIY converted van so moving sites it less hassle…bring on the Highlands!
Great write up. Glad to hear the 7 stanes lived up to the hype. Just back from Kirroughtree today. Took just over 3 1/2 hours so you'll need to try harder next time 
In fairness we don't always bother with McMoab on the trail. It's right next to a carpark on the road through the Galloway Forest. Drive up there and you can play about it as much as you want to without having to face Heartbreak hill straight after!!!
In fairness we don't always bother with McMoab on the trail. It's right next to a carpark on the road through the Galloway Forest. Drive up there and you can play about it as much as you want to without having to face Heartbreak hill straight after!!!Small world - I was at 7 Stanes last week too. Stayed in Innerleithen Saturday-Wednesday and rode Glentress for a couple of days and Innerleithen once. Was seriously impressed with Glentress and Spooky Woods is now a favourite of mine. The freeride area was a blast and I spent quite a bit of time there just mucking around on the tabletops. I had a 3 hour coaching session with my sister courtesy of Andy@MB7 (top guy, highly recommended) who identified a couple of pointers in my riding position and some technique aspects where I'd gotten lazy riding SPD's. After his coaching on my balance and posture, I was flying over the doubles and tabletops with a lot more confidence in my abilities to put it back on terra firma wheels first 
When we rode Innerleithen it was a bit gloomy and misty/wet - which was perfect for the hard slog to the top at Minch Moor, and to see each rider disappearing off into the mist as they shot off downhill was great fun. Cadon Bank was a bit mad at the top on my HT so I took the easy way out of the first three drops. By halfway down I was shattered from riding up and couldn't make the most of it towards the end. I will return with a full bouncer and a rest at the top!
There was an uplift event on at Innerleithen on the Sunday (which Hard-drive mentions above in his post), which one of our party did - and seemed quite reasonable, £30 for 8 runs IIRC. It didn't look horrifically busy as they limit numbers - think the Company was called Uplift Scotland if anyone's interested. There's a push up trail there too, but you need lungs the size of beachballs! Still, the downhill boys were suited up and flying down at an impressive lick. Not sure I matched their times a few days later on my Cannondale hardtail!
I have a new favourite place, and will be back as soon as I can - which is saying something as it is an 800 mile round trip from Essex. Plus the cakes at the Hub Cafe at Glentress are absolutely superb, and the take away in Innerleithen does very good Pizza's!
When we rode Innerleithen it was a bit gloomy and misty/wet - which was perfect for the hard slog to the top at Minch Moor, and to see each rider disappearing off into the mist as they shot off downhill was great fun. Cadon Bank was a bit mad at the top on my HT so I took the easy way out of the first three drops. By halfway down I was shattered from riding up and couldn't make the most of it towards the end. I will return with a full bouncer and a rest at the top!
There was an uplift event on at Innerleithen on the Sunday (which Hard-drive mentions above in his post), which one of our party did - and seemed quite reasonable, £30 for 8 runs IIRC. It didn't look horrifically busy as they limit numbers - think the Company was called Uplift Scotland if anyone's interested. There's a push up trail there too, but you need lungs the size of beachballs! Still, the downhill boys were suited up and flying down at an impressive lick. Not sure I matched their times a few days later on my Cannondale hardtail!
I have a new favourite place, and will be back as soon as I can - which is saying something as it is an 800 mile round trip from Essex. Plus the cakes at the Hub Cafe at Glentress are absolutely superb, and the take away in Innerleithen does very good Pizza's!
Good write ups guys.
Spurred on by this thread I nipped over to Innerleithen on Saturday, my first experience of the Stanes. I couldn't have seen more than 10 bikes all day which was like having the place to myself. Having neglected the MTB in favour of road miles this summer I found the "cheeky obstacles" as noted above to be quite frustrating at the start of the climb but soon warmed up and found my groove.
Views from Minch Moor were great and the fast decent from there on was made even more so by the tight and narrow track. Many thanks to the local couple with the dog who warned me about the third drop on the final black decent as it was definitely beyond my amateur abilities. Like the poster above I was knackered at the bottom but more from the adrenalin and rough track than anything else I think.
I've only ridden the witches trails and wolftrax on the west coast as a comparison but if the rest of the Stanes are anything like Inner's I'll be there again next weekend!
Spurred on by this thread I nipped over to Innerleithen on Saturday, my first experience of the Stanes. I couldn't have seen more than 10 bikes all day which was like having the place to myself. Having neglected the MTB in favour of road miles this summer I found the "cheeky obstacles" as noted above to be quite frustrating at the start of the climb but soon warmed up and found my groove.
Views from Minch Moor were great and the fast decent from there on was made even more so by the tight and narrow track. Many thanks to the local couple with the dog who warned me about the third drop on the final black decent as it was definitely beyond my amateur abilities. Like the poster above I was knackered at the bottom but more from the adrenalin and rough track than anything else I think.
I've only ridden the witches trails and wolftrax on the west coast as a comparison but if the rest of the Stanes are anything like Inner's I'll be there again next weekend!
Oh yeah, and another tip would be to use flatties. Swore I'd never bother with them on Welsh trails where the lines are more obvious and there's less of them, and much more fireroad, but well worth it on the 7stanes.
Also forgot to mention a real highlight on Mabie...a chuffing great Buzzard sat in the middle of the trail on the top edge of a berm. Ny the time I'd slammed the anchors on and stopped I was less than 2 feet away from him...he was huge, I wish I'd had a headcam on as he turned and flew off!
Also forgot to mention a real highlight on Mabie...a chuffing great Buzzard sat in the middle of the trail on the top edge of a berm. Ny the time I'd slammed the anchors on and stopped I was less than 2 feet away from him...he was huge, I wish I'd had a headcam on as he turned and flew off!
Great write up folks 
Even though I've ridden 6 out of 7 Stanes (Newcastleton - nope!) it's still a great incentive to hear folk enthuse about them after riding them for the first time. Awesome trails. Looking forard to my weekend away staying in Dumfries in October. I went natural at the weekend for my riding though, up and over Ben Cleuch: the highest hill in the Ochils mountain range just north of Stirling. 721m from seat level in 2hrs5min, then back down to sea level in 50mins. One of the best descents full-stop that I know of, natural or otherwise, requires 100% concentration
Even though I've ridden 6 out of 7 Stanes (Newcastleton - nope!) it's still a great incentive to hear folk enthuse about them after riding them for the first time. Awesome trails. Looking forard to my weekend away staying in Dumfries in October. I went natural at the weekend for my riding though, up and over Ben Cleuch: the highest hill in the Ochils mountain range just north of Stirling. 721m from seat level in 2hrs5min, then back down to sea level in 50mins. One of the best descents full-stop that I know of, natural or otherwise, requires 100% concentration
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