Marthrown of Mabie,

Mabie Forest Dumfries Dumfries and Galloway, DG2 8HB, United Kingdom, 01387 247 900, bunk@marthrown.com

Mountain Biking

http://www.marthrownofmabie.com

23:45 04-Sep-2010
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Mabie 7stanes trails
  • Big Views Loop (green grade)
  • Woodhead Loop (blue grade)
  • Phoenix Trail (red grade)
  • The Kona Dark Side (orange bike park grade)
  • The Purple Trail - Lochbank Loop (forest road grade)
Mabie forest is steeped in mountain biking folklore. Since the early 90's Mabie led the way in Scottish waymarked trails. Thanks to Rik Allsop, now working his magic at Drumlanrig, Mabie developed into a popular 'trail centre' - perhaps the first in Scotland. When the 7stanes project came along in 2001, bringing tens of thousands of mountain bikers with it, the trails at Mabie received a necessary upgrade with new all-weather surfaced trails being built. If you know where you are going, you can still enjoy some of the original 'natural' singletrack mountain biking at Mabie.

The new generation of 7stanes trails at Mabie feature tight singletrack sections that arrive in stages. The 7stanes trail twists and turns on itself and there are always opportunities to repeat a section or miss a section out if you can understand your trail map. Mabie Forest itself has a beautiful mixture of indigenous and plantation trees and there are plenty of quiet spots with good views on the way round.

Mabie really is a beautiful forest to ride a bike in, no matter your ability. The Blue loops make the most of this and take you past the lochs in the forest. The forest also benefits from having a bike shop and a new cafe, hostel and hotel on site so you can eat, sleep, drink and shop in the forest itself!

Recently Mabie has become best known for its expert-level northshore (tricky wooden trails), the longest known as 'The Dark Side'. For near-professionals only, this 7stanes trail is separated away from the main trails and seems to last forever when you are concentrating hard. A great, but little known, feature is the 'Qualifier' to the dark side which is off the main 7stanes Blue route. The 'Qualifier' is a 7stanes Black grade trail, which is a great introduction to northshore, beginning low to the ground and gradually becoming more and more risky. Not for the faint-hearted but if supervised well, the kids will love 7stanes mountain biking at Mabie!

The Purple Trail - Lochbank Loop at Mabie is 23 km of both public and forest road and takes in most of Mabie forest. There is no singletrack on this route, so is ideal for riders with less technical ability but with a reasonable level of fitness.

The Skills Area lies a short distance from Marthrown. If you are a new or intermediate rider, its blue and red-graded features are ideal for practising your skills before riding the trails or prior to moving up a trail grade.

Information about Mabie by courtesy of Iain Withers - MB7