Laggan Wolftrax

Route
A geotagged map of the day is available, along with a handy detailed map to print and take with you, although you should note that it covers the entire ride of multiple routes. The official trail map from from the Forestry Commission is iffy to say the least but here it is if you want it.

The routes were done in the following order:

• Upper Red
• Lower Red
• Upper Red
• Orange

Review
A great trail centre with short but multiple loops that can be done. The Black route wasn't done but this was mainly becuase too much fun was being had on the Upper Red route. The beauty of this place is that the amount of time going up seems so little in comparison to the length of the tracks coming down.

Starting off with the Upper Red involves climbing up the main forest road and then taking the single track for about 1,500m to the highest point in the forrest for a quick breather and some nice photo opportunities of the fantastic views. Once back on the bike, its time to slap a smile on to your face for the entirity of the 3km descent of open and fast trail, with optional drop-offs and rick gardens, that eventually winds back into the forest and spits you out again about a third of the way up the main forest road. Quite brilliant!

The Lower Red is fast and flowing with a variety of terrain including rockgarden and a long twisting baordwork through the forest. If you want to test your bottle on this run then Air's Rock should do the trick. It can be done as part of the run or accessed from the main forest road as you go up to the Black/Red routes. This big chunk of granite is a bit shorter than the Slab at Dalbeattie but a bit steeper, and once you've comitted there is no going back.



After doing the Upper Red again, the day finished off with a quick blast down the Orange Route. Aimed at freeriders it's got berms, tabletops and gaps jumps a-plenty. Not a lot of air being taken by our little party but plenty of opportunity if you've got the l33t skillz. And you'll need them, as we came across someone sparkled out at the bottom of the trail waiting for a ride in the local ambulance.

Summary
Highlight: Minimal up yet somehow maximum down.
Lowlight: The majority bottling out of Air's Rock
Summary: A brilliant, short, snappy, multiple-routes-in-a-day ride
Ride Rating: 9

Stats
Date: 05/06/09
Pedaling time: 2hr 36min
Distance: 23.6km
Max speed: 34.5km/h
Total ascent: 969m
Total descent: 958m
Puncture count: 0 (but breaking a chain made up for it)
Bike shop: BaseCamp MTB are on site at the start/end of the trails
Cafe: BaseCamp Cafe is right next door to the bike shop
Riders: DH, RI and AS

Driving from Glasgow
Distance: 121 miles
Travel time: 2 hours 47 mins
Directions: Multimap

Links
The shop and cafe at Wolftrax come courtesy of BaseCamp.
Laggan Wolftrax on the Forestry Commision's wesbite.