Dunoon – the best Scottish trail centre you’ve never heard of
Less than one hour from Glasgow lies a very cool looking ridng spot
Less than one hour from Glasgow lies a very cool looking ridng spot
Dunoon is on the west coast of Scotland and there’s a new trail centre there that’s causing a bit of a buzz in Scottish enduro circles.
When Dunoon was announced as a venue for the September round of the renowned Scottish Enduro Series a lot of eyebrows were raised. And a lot of intrigued riders (and practicing racers) headed over to see what the place was like.
They all came back buzzing about it basically. Great trails, remote feel, not that hard to get to.
Dunoon is accessible by land but most folks prefer to hop on to one of the regular ferries and nip across the small stretch of water. This makes the journey much shorter. And ferries are always cool and exciting aren’t they?
Dunoon is one of those slightly run-down spots in the UK that is trying to regenerate itself as a destination for mountain biking and other outdoor stuff. Many of the best trail centres in Wales and Scotland started out for similar reasons.
>>> Bike Park Wales set to double in size
Having said that, the trails in Dunoon are not designed-by-committee/council cookie cutter tracks. A great deal of the riding is the result of four year’s hard work by local trail building wizard Tomasz Chlipala.
It’s Tomasz who is behind some of the trail names: T1, The Bad, Tight As You Like and so on.
There’s a mix of riding on offer in Dunoon. Outright manmade stuff, classic trail centre stylee. But this is mixed in with plenty of natural trails.
A lot of the riding in Dunoon is waymarked but there is a healthy amount that is not so it’s a good idea to arm yourself with some local knowledge (like it or loathe it, Strava’s Segment Explore feature is a powerful trail finding tool).
More info: www.facebook.com/DestinationDunoon
Needless to say, we can’t wait to get up there and try the trails out for ourselves. Race ya!