Venue: Pitfichie

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The climbs are tough but the descent from Cairn William is great. However, these trails are looking a little tired and could do with some attention. The section between Green Hill and the start of the... read whole comment... peterpolo gave this trail 4 stars about 2 years ago

andymay73 gave this trail 4 stars about 5 years ago

Loved it. Man made trail means you can keep the speed up but open surroundings mean great view. You can always do DH track if needing a challenge. 2wheelbarrow gave this trail 4 stars about 5 years ago

Good trail, little muddy, worth a ride agnik1 gave this trail 4 stars about 5 years ago

Neep - Out and Back

This route is one of the ones used by the Ecurie Neep Mountain Bike Club.

Basically this route follows the official forestry commission ‘Red Route’ on the way out and then turns around and does the same thing again in reverse on the way back.

Initially you are on fire-roads from the car park, but at Tag 1 you turn left up the hill into the trees and have a nice semi-technical climb on grass, small rocks, and mud through the trees to Tag2. From there the climb up Green Hill starts out possible, but soon turns into a bit of a ‘hike-a-bike’ (mainly because of the gradient combined with loads of loose boulders). From Tag3 to Tag4 you have a fantastic technical descent over a natural rocky boulder filled track on exposed heather hillside. From Tag4 the terrain starts out quite flat with the occasional rocky crossing over a ditch, and then opens out into a large hardcored area before a short fire-road climb to Tag5. It is at this point that the main purpose built man-made singletrack trail starts. This is essentially a climb up to the summit of Cairn William at Tag6, but it has been made interesting by the inclusion of lots of rocky features along the way. The basic construction method is the typical hardcore base with a kitty-litter top layer, into which the rock features are embedded. Towards the top there are several places where the natural bedrock of the hillside is ridden over. Then, from the top of Cairn William at Tag6 to the bottom at Tag7 there is a section named the ‘Devil’s Staircase’ by the official forestry commission map. This is a sequence of switchbacks on the descent down the side of the hill. With a very man-made feel to it, this section has been made using hardcore and is mainly quite smooth and predictable. There are various rocky features on the way down, but more advanced riders will find that the only way to have fun on this section is to keep your speed high because there are no jumps, drops, or other features of any significance. On a dry day the surface can actually be very sketchy due to all the small stones on a hard sub-surface.

And then you turn around and do the whole thing again in reverse. Take great care to look out for riders coming the other way when you go back, particularly on the climb back up to the top of Cairn William (if the trail is busy you are best not to try going back up at all, but rather just use the fire-road to go back to the base of Green Hill again).

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Did a variation of this route, going right at the end of the Devils Staircase (great fun even with ice) and up and down the downhill trail (will need to pack more skill next time). These tracks offer ... read whole comment... grahaml gave this trail 5 stars about 5 years ago

Twice over Green Hill

This route largely follows the signposted Pitfichie route but deviates after the "Devil's Staircase" to avoid the long drag back on the forestry road.

Trail starts with a forestry road climb from the car park, taking a right at the only T-junction you come to and on up to point 1. Here you take a left and head up some (often muddy) single-track through the woods. As you come out of the woods, this track takes a right and heads up Green Hill. The track here becomes steeper and stonier and most mortals end up pushing most of the way up to the top.

At the top (point 2), get ready for a lovely technical descent. Follow the trail down. It starts of quite steep and rocky before becoming flatter (and still rocky) and eventually you'll be a flat and fairly easy trail with occasional rock bridges over ditches. The trail will drop you out on the forestry road again, take a left and head up a the forestry track for a couple of minutes. Take the manmade single-track to the right where it's signpost (point 3).

The track climbs up the hill over various obstacles. Challenge yourself to make it up without a dab! Eventually, you'll arrive at the trig point (point 4). Point your bike at the Devil's Staircase and enjoy the descent.

You'll come out on another forestry track (point 5) . Take a left here. Take care on a steep forestry road descent. At the bottom (point 6) take a left and start climbing again. Follow the forestry road until you see a signpost pointing up a smaller track to the left (point 7). Climb here until you come to another signpost (point 8) and take a left and continue upwards. This may well turn into a short push as there is not a lot of grip on this track - especially when it's rained recently (and it's Scotland after all).

This path levels and starts to descend again. As the path improves, you'll suddenly recognise that you're back at point 3, the start of the manmade single-track climb you enjoyed earlier. Unless you fancy another lap, continue down the forestry track and you'll retrace your route back to the car park.

After a short descent on the track, take a right on the path to/from Green Hill. Climb up to point 2 and then prepare to descend the hill you pushed up two hours earlier. Descend to point 1 and then turn right to head back to the car park.

Enjoy!

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Pitfichie Forest

Woodland trail - AP