Southern Upland Coast to Coast

Totally unique coast to coast epic through Scotland's undiscovered wilderness!

This is an epic trip across one of the widest and wildest parts of Scotland, following every type of trail imaginable. We link up some of Southern Scotland's finest trail centres with an unsurpassed wild route. The scenery is breathtaking and the riding superb on this classic journey.

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Itinerary / Highlights

Summary
This is an epic trip across one of the widest and wildest parts of Scotland, following
every type of trail imaginable. We link up some of Southern Scotland’s finest trail
centres with an unsurpassed wild route. The scenery is more akin to what you would
find in the Highlands and the riding is superb on this classic journey.

Highlights
World class trails at Kirroughtree
Twisty singletrack in Ae forest
Stunning scenery through the Moffat Hills
The wild and exposed Lammermuir Hills
The pies in Melrose!

Itinerary

Day 1. You Arrive in Scotland. We can help you with transport to Portpatrick, get the
bikes organised, maybe take the chance to have a blast on some local trails and talk
through the trip. We stay overnight in the heart of South West Scotland.

Day 2. Weaving along an interesting coastline we pass old lighthouses and cliff tops
before heading inland across open moors where the smugglers and covenanters used
to roam, passing bothies and ancient caves. The riding gets pretty challenging as the
Galloway hills draw ever closer. A long downhill takes us to the market town of Newton
Stewart for our overnight stop in the ‘Gateway to the Galloway Hills'.

Day 3. Straight away, we head off-road through the UK's largest forest park. This is a
jewel in the crown of the world famous 7 Stanes mountain bike network with sweeping
berms, challenging climbs and thrilling single-track. A back road section leads us up the
Ken valley before a roller-coaster of a route to Thornhill (invented here by Kirkpatrick
MacMillan in 1839).

Day 4. Leaving Thornhill, we take to some of Scotland’s finest natural feeling singletrack
at Drumlanrig Forest. Rocks, roots, thrilling down-hills and beautiful forest scenery
make this a not to be missed section of the trip. Before we have time to catch our breath
we head east through the remote Lowther hills to take on some man-made trails
through Ae Forest with its big berms and rugged tracks. One last up and over takes us
to the pretty town of Moffat.

Day 5. We start the day with a challenging climb into the Moffat Hills with arguably one
of the biggest views in Scotland. Our reward for the climb is a view down Moffat Dale
and a stunning descent into the Ettrick Valley - one of the main tributaries for Scotland’s
most famous salmon river. Then there are two challenging up and overs taking us over
exposed hill country but rewarding us with some awesome descents before reaching
Peebles.

Day 6. Today we climb our way east over open hillsides and forest on the intimidating
Minch Moor in Traquair Forest. We tackle the testing trails and summit the Three
Brethren before a rapid descent to Melrose. We refuel on those pies in Melrose before
some great trails lead us up to our night’s destination at Lauder.

Day 7. With the biggest hills behind us we can almost smell the North Sea as we head
over the windswept and desolate Lammermuir Hills just south of Edinburgh. Fantastic
scenery, awesome trails and the knowledge that we are about to complete an amazing
achievement will keep us going to reach the seaside town of Dunbar and its picturesque
harbour that represents the end of our epic journey.

Other Details

Accommodation Details

Our aim is to provide the most flexible mountain biking and cycling holidays available anywhere, so you can choose any kind of accommodation to suit your budget and taste. We test all of the accommodation ourselves before your trips, to ensure that whatever type of accommodation you choose, you will find a high standard of facilities and service.