Ae Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Tibbort:

The red graded trail here seems as though it is going through a sort of transition phase- there is some great well-established singletrack but the new stuff, although of excellent construction and design, sort of feels a bit out of place right now. Perhaps once trees grow up around them and they become roughened around the edges from bike traffic a more natural effect might be achieved. Some of the track by the wind farm is partly made from crushed brick which gives a city cycle lane feel, until you come up against some massive dirt jumps on the most exposed part of the hill. A warning of possible side winds needs to be heeded here to prevent an accident. I never rode this trail before the diversion was put in place so cannot comment on what has been lost from the ride. All in all it is a great technical track: four main climbs are matched with four great descents, all of varying character. It would be a decent measure of biking skill for a rider to get round without dabbing down. For those who say there is too much fireroad climbing, this is not the case- of course if you are unfit or not used to biking, these will take up a chunk of your ride and feel like a real drag. My other half (female) got round the route as it is now in under an hour and 3/4 so there are no excuses lads! The blue trail would be a great introduction to riding- once the first long climb has been done. A brilliant new section of track has been constructed with large wide berms, and can also be enjoyed by those who are comfortable riding at great speed. The track joins the green for a pleasant ride up the valley floor before turning down dale on wide easy singletrack winding through trees back to the end. I'd go as far as to say this is possibly the most family friendly centre i've been to, thanks to the nature of the easy graded trails and the fact it isn't uncomfortably busy like some of the other Stanes, which might put off the less confident rider.

A lot of money has gone into creating new trail There's everything you could need- grades of trails, cafe, shop, showers, bike wash Not busy at weekend Well-draining (xc loops)- despite wettest January in years not much mud Great for families

cj95:

Ae is one of my favorites of all the 7 stanes and I find is often underrated. The red Ae line trail is hard going at times and is a good test of fitness with some epic climbs and great descents. The new addition of the windfarm trails are good fun with some massive berms and steep tabletops. As well as the graded trails there is a good selection of downhill courses for the more extreme riders and also boosts a beginners downhill course called the shredder to help build you confidence up. Also an added bonus is the newly reopened Ae cafe and bike shop run by a very friendly local family with a great selection of reasonably priced food and cakes. The main thing I love about this trails is apart from summer weekends this Stane is often not very busy and very often can do the whole route and not meet sole.

Epic long trails Friendly welcoming cafe Good range of trails for all abilities Not the busiest of trail centers

TheBikingSquirrel:

Ridden it several times and it is pretty arduous but there are some great bits notably there is a really nice flowy trail called Bran Burn Bash and then the 2nd half of Omega Man which is a great freeride style trail. Maybe not worth a 3hr drive but if you are staying locally say in Dumfries it is well worth it and if you combine it with riding a spot of downhill then it would be a good day filler.

Some really nice pieces of trail Cool black grade board walk Lovely scenery

StupidMonkeyKev:

Its good, nice loop. I've only done this once :)

Good trail, good views.