Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) has released a new resource – the Trail Management Guide for Mountain Bikers (October 2025) – to help land managers, trail associations, and volunteers across Scotland understand how to manage and sustain mountain bike trails for the long term.
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The guide sets out practical approaches to keeping “the right trail, in the right place, with the right people” – offering frameworks such as Permits, Licences, Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), and Sustainable Trails Plans (STPs). It builds on earlier work including the Unauthorised MTB Trails: A Guide for Land Managers and Riders and provides real-world examples like Deeside Bike Collective’s Banchory Woodland Trails.
Across Scotland there are now around 30 formally constituted Trail Associations, plus many more informal groups maintaining local trails. This thriving volunteer network forms the foundation for the guide, which was authored by DMBinS, led by the UK Trails Project Manager, and reviewed by Forestry and Land Scotland. It draws on years of collaboration between volunteers and land managers to create a practical, proportionate framework for sustainable trail management within Scotland’s unique access system.
📄 Download the Trail Management Guide for Mountain Bikers (PDF)
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