Loading news…
Glentress Mountain Bike Trails
Avg 4.69
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (88)

*You can claim this trail if you are the trail owner

  • Information:
  • Type: Purpose Built Centre
  • Grades: Green,Blue,Red,Black,Orange,Accesible
  • Riding: Cross Country,Skills Area
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash,Bike Hire,Bike Shop,Showers,Uplift
  • Distance(s): Under 5km, 5-10km, 11-20km, 21- 30km
  • Country: Scotland
  • County: Borders
  • Website: Glentress
  • Facebook:
  • Instagram:
  • Twitter:

Trail Network & Rider Segments

Trail network status from Trailforks and recent rider segments from Strava (see full mapped routes and details in the Tracks tab).

Trail Status

status via Trailforks.com

Tracks Nearby

Not loaded yetOpen full view to load
Powered by Strava

Description

Glentress mountain bike trail center is part of the 7stanes MTB network in the Scottish Borders. It consists of black, red, blue, and green trails as well an area of Green, Blue, Red and Black 'taster trails'.

Like this?

Skills Loop

  • The skills loop at Glentress lets you practice and develop your skills before heading out onto the trails. There are timber and rock features and obstacles. It has separate sections graded green, blue and red to aid skill progression across all technical levels. 

Skills Area

  • mini MTB zone
  • roller zone
  • cornering zone
  • drop and tech zones

Green routes

  • The Glentress green trails range from 3.5 to 4.5km in length. they cater for family and beginners. One starts from the Buzzards Nest car park and the other from the Glentress Peel visitors centre. 

Blue route 

  • The blue route at Glentress is made up of an 8km lower (recommended) and an 8km upper loop. You can do them separately or tie them together for the full 16km! Some of the best swooping and flowing sections are Electric Blue, Betty Blue, Blue Velvet and the latest Berm Baby Berm.

Red route

  • The 18km red trail at Glentress is the most popular of all the trails here. Some of the sections of note are Pennels Vennel which is a quick blast of single track, Spooky Wood with kickers, sweeping berms followed by small jumps and flowing tabletops, Super G section with berm after berm and jump after jump, Hit Squad section the most rooty, twisty, technical section of the trail, Pie Run and Magic Mushroom. Look out for the 298-meter red MTB descent called Mild Peril. Like all the trails at Glentress, it is constantly being developed and having sections added. 

Black Trail

  • The 29km black is graded black/severe. This is a challenging, long, and technical epic ride, taking in some of the remoter parts of Glentress Forest, and should only be attempted by experienced riders with expert technical skills.

Glentress Masterplan Trails

  • The Glentress Masterplan trails (Green, Blue, Red and Black Network trails) opened in October 2023 and link into the existing trail network and offer new descents ending just north of the Peel Tower. They can also be sessioned easily by a number of methods from joining the main trail network to using forest roads. The trails pass under the Multi-User Path and constitute 16km of new build.
  • Apple Peel | Green:  The new green graded trail runs along to the Peel building and is ideal for a gentle cruise or anyone starting out in mountain biking.
  • Turn and Burn | Blue: The new blue trail runs very near the Eshiels Burn, and features a considerable number of turns. This one is all about fun with big berms and easy jumps.
  • Smells Like Tweed Spirit | Red: Building on the pioneering Spooky Wood style with a mix of features.
  • Castle Black | Black: Most of our new trails run down the west side of Castle Hill. The new black trail has large jumps and fast for expert riders

Glentress Masterplan Taster Trails

  • Green, Blue, Red and Black Taster trails: These short stand-alone loops begin and end to the south of the Peel Tower and provide a way to sample each grade before committing to a network trail. The shared climb gradually change in difficulty from Green to Black grade as the climb goes on, before splitting at various points to separate Green, Blue, Red, and Black descents.
  • These trails do not link into the main trail network, but can be reached via a Multi-User Path, and can be sessioned easily. These trails also pass under the Multi-User Path.
  • Multi-user Trail: 2.2km Accessible path around Glentress. The Multi-user Trail connects the Glentress Gateway to the café, bike shop, skills area, taster trails and the start of all walking and mountain biking routes. Expect wide, firm gravel path with gentle slopes and various resting points. One section of minor road crossing with a fairly steep side slope. Moderate slope for access between Gateway and café/bike shop. Suitable for Adaptive bikes.

Off-Piste

    • Like most trail centres in the UK as riders skills progress and communities mature there is a network of unsanctioned off-piste trails in the region. These are unofficial. Ride at your own risk.

Volunteer Community

Other Stuff

    • Buzzard's Nest Freeride Bike Park closed permanently in Spring 2023 as part of the Glentress Masterplan but 16km of new trails were built as part of the Masterplan project which opened in October 2023 and built by On Track.

Share

    • If you have ridden any of the mountain bike trails at Glentress then please share your experience with us and the community by posting pictures, videos, and reviews to the listing.
Guest :
Avg 2.90
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Erik

Good variety of trails 

What do you like?

Great accessibility for younger riders 

What could be improved?

Trails receive little to no maintenance, Forestry Land Scotland have turned the place into a building site, they badly manage the trails 

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

02/07/2024 - over 1 year ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
^
guest:
Avg 5.00
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Glentrees facilities

.

What do you like?

.

What could be improved?

.

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

01/07/2024 - over 1 year ago

Was this review helpful to you?

-2
^
Steven:
Avg 3.50
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Fun for all

Great trail centre with a variety of marked and off piste trails from blues to blacks. Fair bit of climbing required to get the most out of all the trails, but an uplift service is available. 

What do you like?

Great mixture of trails for all levels of skill and abilities. Toilets and a cafeteria on site for when you get caught short or just need to refuel. Uplift service saves those tired legs and is reasonably priced if you chose your trails wisely to get the most runs in. Loads of parking available and competitively priced in line with other Scottish trail centres. Facilities available on site and locally for bike and e-bike hire. 

What could be improved?

Maintenance of the older marked trails is lacking. Holds water for days and even sunny days can result in a mud covered bike. New trail maintenance needs stepped up. New reds and blues are extremely loose off line and need to be ridden with some care when really dry. Bike wash has been a hit and a miss, either not working or hose missing and cost/ time allowed is short for a centre where your bike get muddier than most! Cafe is contactless only, unless the WiFi stops working then they swap to cash which can end up leaving with you eating elsewhere! Lower trail ends have been shut since opening and only recently reopened, which gives you an idea of how low the maintenance is. Some trails with storm damage have been shut or diverted for some time. 

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

30/06/2024 - over 1 year ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
^
A Robertson :
Avg 3.90
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Glentress

Go to trail centre from where I live.

What do you like?

Facilities. Campsite. Amount of trails. New trails soon so yet to ride them.

What could be improved?

Trails are deteriorating and need some work.

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

04/08/2023 - over 2 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
^
Steve :
Avg 5.00
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Best in Scotland.

Just amazing. Shooting over the bridge on the blue trail before decending is one of the best experiences in mountain biking

What do you like?

Spookey wood

What could be improved?

None

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

03/08/2023 - over 2 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
^
Pete:
Avg 4.60
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Getting tired

I vert much hope the new trail developments refresh what used to be the best trail centre in the UK. Unfortunately far from it these days

What do you like?

Excellent trail network. Huge area . Good spread of abilities catered for.

What could be improved?

Spooky woods what happened to you ???

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

30/07/2023 - over 2 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
Loading weather...
Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play