Venue: Glenborrodale

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Comments and ratings for Glenborrodale to Ockle

I only did the Kentra to Ockle bit as part of a circuit from Acharacle with the rest on road. Channel 4 had added lots of large stones to the track between Kentra bay and Singing Sands for their reali... read whole comment... taysidefrog gave this trail 1 stars about 11 months ago

Completed the full circuit including the return by road from Ockle just after Xmas 2015 in foul weather. Utterly exhausting! Couple of notes to add to the description... The start is up the obvious... read whole comment... grizedaleforest gave this trail 4 stars about 1 year ago

islander gave this trail 4 stars about 4 years ago

The Singing Sands is a lovely beach and mountain biking gets you there a whole lot faster than walking! Plus the views of Loch Sunart from the first climb and views of the Small Isles from the second ... read whole comment... cat89 gave this trail 4 stars about 5 years ago

Glenborrodale to Ockle

This route offers some splendid views and also allows a visit to the beautiful "Singing Sands" of Gortenfern.

A significant proportion of the route is on fire road and none of the climbs are particularly steep, but it remains a physically taxing ride, especially if you have to cycle back on the road from Ockle to Glenborrodale. It is possible to shorten the route and miss out the boggiest sections by starting at the Arivegaig carpark (tag 6) if preferred, but this is only recommended if you have arranged for someone to pick you up at Ockle - otherwise you'd have a very long ride back.

The route:

The parking for this route is at the Glenborrodale RSPB centre (grid ref: NM595615). If parking at Arivegaig carpark and doing the short option, scroll down to tag 6.

From the carpark, turn left and cycle along the road until you reach the Glenborrodale Activity Centre (just past the Castle). At this point (tag 1), turn left onto a fireroad climb and continue up this until you reach a fork after about 1km. Take the right hand fork, which will take you along the edge of the woodland for a bit before bringing you out onto the open hillside.

At the next fork (tag 3) turn right again, off the major trail, heading East towards Loch Laga. This section can be somewhat boggy after heavy rain, but perservere as the descent shortly after the loch is usually fairer going. At the T-junction at the foot of this descent (tag 4), turn left to continue along the prescribed route. (Alternatively, you can turn right to take a detour into Acharacle for shops/cafes).

Turn left again when this track meets the road (tag 5) and continue past the Arivegaig carpark (tag 6) following signs to the Singing Sands and Ockle Point.

About 5km on, you will see signs pointing you down to the Singing Sands (tag 7). This is a very short detour, and definitely worthwhile!

After the Singing Sand, the track climbs and begins to deteriorate. Where this forks (tag 8), resist the temptation to take the more established route: the path to Ockle is the singletrack left hand fork. This track can become a little overgrown with heather in some places, but is largely rideable, and affords some excellent views of the islands on a clear day!

After a short descent, you join a farm track (tag 9) and, turning left, follow this to Ockle. Fin.