Balfour Forest, Aboyne, MTB Trails

Balfour Forest, near Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, mixes a small core of sanctioned trails with a much larger web of natural, rider-built lines through community-owned working forest. The forest is managed by the Birse Community Trust, and the two sanctioned trails, Chutney and Relish, are maintained by the Aberdeenshire Trail Association in partnership with the Trust. Expect 3 blues, 3 reds and a black across the named trails below, a wider network of unsanctioned wild trails for those who want to explore further, and the old Fungle Road fire track for a longer, rougher gravel-style outing. The Aboyne Bike Park and Tarland Trails are also nearby if you want to extend the trip.

The Trails

• Relish (Blue): One of Balfour Forest's two officially sanctioned trails, built by CRC and completed in 2022. A short, flowing blue descent of around 500 metres that blends natural features into a smoothed, durable surface, with harder line options for more experienced riders.
• Piccalilli (Blue): A blue singletrack opened in 2025, linking the top and bottom of Chutney and cutting out the need to ride the connecting traverse. Now open and being ridden in.
• Chutney Nudger (Red): One of the forest's local favourites, split into three linkable sections and rideable from the car park or combined with the rest of the network.
• Dark Magic (Red): A red-graded descent of just under 400 metres.
• Panic Button (Black): A steep, technical black line with rock slabs, a rock garden and gap jumps, around 500 metres of descending.
• Gruffalo Grump (Blue): A blue singletrack descent of around 320 metres, with berms and rollers.
• Friends Electric (Red): A steep, loamy red trail with switchbacks, around 720 metres long.

These named lines sit inside a much larger network of unsanctioned, rider-built trails through the wider forest. Only Chutney and Relish are formally adopted and maintained, so expect the rest to be rougher and less predictable.

Gravel Riding

The old Fungle Road runs through Balfour Forest as part of a historic drovers' route linking Aboyne to Glen Esk and Tarfside, roughly 20km away. It is a rubbly, wide forest and estate track rather than a waymarked gravel route, but it gives a long fire-road option out of the same forest that carries the singletrack, and a way to link a much bigger ride if you want one. Expect a rough, unsurfaced track rather than smooth gravel, so a capable gravel or mountain bike is the better choice.

Local Organisation

Balfour Forest is owned and managed by the Birse Community Trust, a community body that also runs forestry operations across the land. The Aberdeenshire Trail Association works alongside the Trust to maintain the two sanctioned trails, Chutney and Relish, and to manage safety for all trail users. The Association also looks after trails at Pitfichie, Ballater and elsewhere around Aboyne, and can be contacted at aberdeenshiretrailassociation@gmail.com or via Facebook.

Getting Here

From Aboyne, cross the River Dee and head south on the B976. After around 200 metres, turn right up a narrow lane signed Balfour and follow it for about 2 miles. After a small bridge and a left-hand bend, turn right onto a forest track signed Balfour, Birse Community Trust, and park by the gate around 100 metres up the track. Postcode AB34 5DB.

Parking at the forest itself is very limited and the access lane is a single-track road not built for volumes of traffic. Birse Community Trust asks riders to cycle or walk to the forest where they can, so consider parking in Aboyne itself and riding out to the trailhead if you're able to.

Balfour Forest is an active working forest, so trails, access points and conditions can change with forestry operations. Check with Birse Community Trust or the Aberdeenshire Trail Association before you travel if in doubt, and download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off, since waymarking away from Chutney and Relish is minimal.

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