Cycling Gravelfoyle at Aberfoyle

We’re sometimes asked “where is the best off-road cycling in Scotland?” and in particular “what is the best off-road cycle area near Loch Lomond?”

Aberfoyle in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park is possibly the answer to both of these questions.

As we rounded the corner, Ben Lomond came into view

Aberfoyle Bike Hire and Cafe

A fifteen-minute drive from Appletree Cottage, Croftamie, Aberfoyle, is a tiny village at the heart of the Trossachs.  It is a bustling little village with a range of shops including a Co-op, an excellent butcher, gift shops, a petrol station and the Scottish Wool Centre.

Best of all for us was the Aberfoyle Cycle Hire shop, where a full range of road, mountain and electric bikes are available for hire.  More information can be found at the shop’s website here: https://aberfoylebikehire.co.uk

The shop was kind enough to let us have a map detailing the Gravelfoyle routes.

<h1>So, what are the gravel routes around Aberfoyle?</h1>

First of all, there is a collection of three rough track forest road routes known as Gravelfoyle.  These well-signposted rides vary in length from 10km to 30km.  The shortest known, the Faerie Loop, is just under 6.5 miles (10km). It is perhaps suited best to beginners and families, taking around 60 to 90 minutes to complete.

For the more ambitious, there is the 18.6-mile (30km) Lomond View, which is great for more experienced riders and e-bikers.  This route headwest towards Kinlochard village and can take 1.5 to 2.5 hours to complete, depending on how many stops are taken to admire the magnificent views that the Trossachs area has to offer!

A copy of the trail map from Gravelfoyle website.

A plan of the cycle routes from the Gravelfoyle website (www.gravelfoyle.com)

We selected the trail between these two called the Aqueduct Loop.  This route, like the others, is all on forestry gravel tracks, but has the interest of being around part of the ancient aqueduct which pipes water from Loch Katrine to Glasgow.

The first section took us over the small single track hump backed bridge over the River Forth, which looks so small in its early stages as it flows through Aberfoyle, and along to a turning on the right where our trek took us uphill past occasional houses dotted around forming the outskirts of Aberfoyle village.

The first part of our trail was through impressive pine trees

We made our way along the forestry track between majestic groves of pine trees interspersed with deciduous varieties. Soon, the signposts showed the route split.  Turn left to do the loop clockwise, turn right to follow anti-clockwise. We chose to turn left as recommended by the bike shop.

Not long afterwards, our view opened out as the hill immediately ahead had been recently felled of trees.

Continuing along the fluctuating gradients, though nothing too severe.  It was a great time of year to do it, with the sun rising high enough to shine overthe trees.

As we rounded a corner, the mighty mountain of Ben Lomond came into view in the distance.

Magnificent and solitary. (see image above)

At the bottom of a long descent, we passed underneath the structure that is the Loch Katrine Aqueduct.

The Aqueduct gives the trail its name

Work on the Loch Katrine Aqueduct started in 1855, and it was opened by Queen Victoria on 14th October 1859.  Cholera had been a recurring problem in Glasgow, and a clean, fresh water supply was planned to eradicate the disease.

The size and complexity of the undertaking, particularly in the era of its construction, are often overlooked.

The Loch Katrine Aqueduct approaches

Supplying Glasgow with water directly from Loch Katrine involves a twenty-six mile (41.5km) long system of pipes and tunnels. This engineering feat has a drop of only six inches per mile. It is said that it takes the water fourteen hours to travel from Loch Katrine to Glasgow.. The project was a success, and the cases of cholera in Glasgow rapidly decreased after the installation was complete.

The routes of Gravelfoyle are very clearly signposted in colour-coded bands.  Even more helpful is that a pie chart is displayed on occasional posts showing how far one has progressed along the trail. This made navigation easy.

A view over Loch Ard with Kinlochard village and the Arrochar Alps in the distance. Ben Lomond is on the left.

Climbing once again, we came to a magnificent viewpoint over Loch Ard with Kinlochard and the Arrochar Alps in the distance and the solitary Ben Lomond on the left. What a great place!

Lochan a’ Ghleannain is a pretty little lochan, abundant with wildlife.

Back into the woods again, and soon we arrived at the shoreline of the pretty Lochan a’ Ghleannain, where we watched eleven ducklings following their mother whilst dragonflies dipped onto the water.

From the Lochan a’ Ghleannain, it was a brief journey until we came unexpectedly to a car park deep in the woods.  A narrower path was signposted off the car park for the Aqueduct Loop.  We followed this to find ourselves on a bridge over the very attractive Duchray Water, slowly meandering its way down to join the River Forth just before it entered Aberfoyle.

The Duchray Water slowly meandering its way north to join the River Forth

And from there we meandered our way through the pretty woodland paths and along the banks of Lochan Spling

Aberfoyle village seen from the south near the end of our journey.

More can be found out about the gravel tracks around Aberfoyle at the Gravelfoyle website here: https://www.gravelfoyle.com

One of the very helpful signposts showing along the route, showing that we're halfway along the Aqueduct Loop