Top to bottom: Curnelloch Burn, looking north towards Craignaw. Crossing White Laggan burn. Craignell Farm. Runic axe head

Weekender Hills The gravel track between Clatteringshaws and Glentrool offers spectacular Scottish scenery. Jeff Frew is your guide Bags of fun This route is fine in autumn too. You he narrow valley that links might even camp Clatteringshaws with Glentrool takes out… cyclinguk.org/ Tyou through a landscape of lochs and autumn- glens in a wild corner of south west . bikepacking I was introduced to this route by Galloway Cycling Holidays (gallowaycycling.com), a friendly JEFF FREW local cycling business. Cycling UK You can start at either end. From Clatteringshaws, you soon join National Cycle Route 7. Remnants of Jeff is the Cycling UK Development tarmac take you as far as the Old Edinburgh Road, Officer for then the surface becomes the hardpack and gravel Dumfries and typical of forestry access roads. Galloway, The Southern Upland Way runs to the north of the and Arran, and Clatteringshaws Loch, and it merges with Route 7 on North and South the approach to the Loch Dee. The views will make Lanarkshire your spirits soar, while the gravel riding is some of the finest in the world. Our day was made perfect when, on the shores of , we spotted otter kits and adults after hearing their whistling calls. Nearby is the site of an unorthodox battle fought in 1307, when tumbled boulders down the steep slopes onto an advancing English army. While you can retrace your route from Loch Trool, it’s worth adding a loop through Glentrool Forest. The return to Clatteringshaws offers different views from before – plus coffee at the café if you time it right.

46 cycle OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 GALLOWAY HILLS WEEKENDER

Weekend ride GALLOWAY HILLS Route name: Clatteringshaws to Glentrool. Start/finish: Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre. Map: OS Explorer 319. Ride length: 63.4km (39.4 miles). Climbing: 798m. Bike type: gravel, CX, hardtail MTB, tourer. Ride level: regular (beginner with care). GPX file: cyclinguk.org/route/galloway-hills

Loch Dee Glenhead GLENTROOL 1 After a little over nine 3 Crossing over to the north VISITOR CENTRE miles you get your first views side of Loch Trool over a foot 5There’s ample parking of Loch Dee and the high bridge at Glenhead, the feel here if you’re doing this mountains surrounding your of the ride changes. You ride ride in the opposite route. White Laggan is a bothy under a canopy of oak and direction. There’s also a to the south of the loch. Look beech, with cascading falls café on the banks of the for the Saltire painted on the tumbling from the peaks high Black Linn if you can’t gable end. above on your right. wait until House o’ Hill for something to eat. Rune stone 2 To the right of the track is a flat sculpture of a stone axe BRUCE’S STONE House o’ Hill Hotel head, with an ancient Irish There’s an amazing 6A good place for a meal, poem called ‘The Mystery’ 4view of Loch Trool a pint, or a bed for the night. engraved on it in runic text from here. It’s said The ride continues on tarmac (poemhunter.com/poem/ to be the least light- for a while, with tight bends the-mystery-11/). Up ahead polluted place in the and a steep descent under you can see The , UK. (All of this ride is lichen-covered oak and beech the highest peak in southern within the 300 square trees. From the Visitor Centre Scotland, from whose summit miles of the UNESCO (5), retrace your route to you can see Snowdon. Dark Sky Park.) Clatteringshaws.

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Start/ finish

Dumfries & Galloway For more information about riding in , plus links to local cycling groups, visit: cyclinguk.org/cycle/cycling-dumfries- galloway Map © Crown copyright 2020. Ordnance Survey. Media 015/20. Photos by Jeff Frew & Alamy

CYCLINGUK.ORG cycle 47