They hav only just built the new red route so now a full length route that is great fun!
A route that should be on top of your list should you be up in that area of Scotland!
What do you like?
The Red trail is mostly brand new
Blue is great for newbies and experts alike
Facilities area is great!
What could be improved?
Old black route is very worn down and under maintained
Comrie Croft is a hidden gem, a perfect half days riding with a mix of truly natural feeling black and red trails with the grin factor or one of the best cheekiest blue descents I've ever ridden!
What do you like?
Comrie Croft is a well constructed little secret - calling it a trail centre undermines it in so many ways as the trail centre puts it up against Glentress and alike and this is so very different. The 10 k route is short enough for a morning/afternoon blast or a chilled out day with a two or three loops interrupted by by cake and coffee in the tea garden and a play in the skills area.
The Hairy Coo red and black loop offer a test of uphill climbing followed by technical steep descents which will leave any rider elated (I finally did the top section with no dabs and this was a big step for me). The shoot into the water is a right hoot!
The addition of the new blue loop is excellent - the gruelling fireroad climb has been replaced with gentle switch backs with stunning views across the valley. The descent has three main parts - a slightly techier top section with option black features followed by a pump track and berm section which is smooth and fast and finally into a dual slalom style park at the end. The blue is a great finish to the red or even a fast loop on its own.
I can't wait for the new red loop to be added!
First of all don't be confused by the length, this isn't your standard machinebuilt trail centre with long simple sections between features, there's stuff happening pretty much all the time- much more concentrated riding. Ace. The black is pretty challenging in places, harder than most xc blacks- you might think that with the xc race connection this'd be an easier place but it is certainly not. Basically this is a less vanilla, more handcrafted and unique ride- the Drumlanrig of the east maybe
The location is lovely too, climbing up from the valley you get excellent views and the immediate surroundings are way nicer than your average forestry commission tree factory.
There's a large and varied skill area with jumps, drops, even a seesaw and a wee pumptrack- I found the pumptrack to be pretty muddy and sticky when I visited so couldn't get much joy out of it but I'm sure it'll be great when dry.
What could be improved?
The first climb is not pleasant! Uses an existing landrover track and is a bit of a winch up from the car park. Nothing to cause any real problems but not quite what I need after a pre-ride cake :) But you'll most likely be doing laps, at least once round the red and the black, so going back up the 3rd or 4th time gets harder! The climb further up is great though, really interesting and varied.
The difficulty level is a little bit up and down and it would be easy to get caught out- I love that but for the less confident rider it might be hard to get your head around.