Must Ride Route – Scottish Borders

While most people head for the Highlands, Alex Carnegie reminds us that some of the UK’s best roads can be found in the Borders…

I live north of Glasgow, so to avoid traveling in or around the city, my usual bike rides take me north towards Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, or towards the Highlands via Glencoe or Glenshee. However, when I got the chance to get away for a few days before autumn arrived, I decided that this time I would head south and explore the Scottish Borders. I’d read about the South West 300, a circular driving route that follows the Dumfries and Galloway coast and then heads north towards South Ayrshire and combined it with advice from other bikers and a… motorcycle sports and leisure Article by Mikko Nieminen, to accompany my own Dumfries and Galloway day ride.

Heading towards Ayr as the starting point of my journey, I joined the A713 outside the city and began my journey south. It’s a quiet, winding road through South Ayrshire that winds through villages and open countryside, crosses Carsphirn Forest and then passes along the shore of Loch Cane, taking me straight to my overnight stop at Castle Douglas.

The next morning I started my Dumfries and Galloway day ride along a short section of the A75, heading east towards Crockettford, where I could join the A712, the first of these roads I had read about. It’s a spectacular biking road that winds through hills and woodland into moorland, before entering Galloway Forest Park, a ‘dark sky park’ for all those stargazers out there. It is also the location of the Raiders Road Forest Trail. The trail is made up of gravel paths through the forest, offering the opportunity to do a bit of off-road riding and see the forest and wildlife up close, all for a small fee of £3. However, this was not on my schedule for today, so I continued west on the A712 via Clatteringshaws Loch and Dam. The dam was constructed as part of the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme and provides water via underground tunnels to Glenlee Power Station. Where I stayed, a 1930s dam overlooks an old stone bridge and the remains of the current A712 road bridge, and all three sit harmoniously in the landscape. That’s something you certainly can’t say about the many wind turbine farms springing up around the surrounding hills.

The A712 continued its winding route to Newton Stewart where I joined another road I had read about, the A714 to Girvan. This is another extremely enjoyable biking road, which I followed until just before Girvan, where the B734, then the B7044, heads west towards the A77 coast road to the south. The road is part of the official SW300 and runs from the Firth of Clyde coastline to the ports of Cairnryan and Stranraer on Loch Ryan. From Stranraer it was an easy few miles on the A716 and A77 to the pretty seaside village of Portpatrick. The village is 700 years old and is located on the extreme west coast of the Isles of Galloway, the hammer-shaped headland that brings Scotland within 21 miles of the Irish coast. There are rocky walks including a charming harbour, Dunsky Castle and the start of the Southern Upland Way, but for me it was simply time to stop for lunch!

The SW300 explores the Rhines of Galloway with a return route at the southernmost end of the Mall of Galloway, but to keep my day ride manageable, I cut it short and turned left at Sandhead to follow the next part of the route, the A747. It runs from Port William to Monreith, around the coast of Luss Bay, and from there I took various minor roads (okay, I got lost a bit!) until I came back to Newton Stewart and rejoined the SW300 route on the A75. The road again follows the coast, this time with spectacular views of Wigtown Bay, and then heads east to the Gatehouse of the Fleet. Unfortunately, the small road through the hills leading to Galloway Forest Park through Lauriston Forest, which I was told not to go, was closed when I was there, so I took an alternative route through Kirkcudbright on the A755 to the A711 and back to Castle Douglas. My day trip of 205 miles on very quiet roads compared to some other parts of Scotland was thoroughly enjoyable.

There were one or two more surprises for me when I returned home the next day. The plan was to ride various minor roads towards the motorway services at Abington, so I took the A713, the A702 to Thornhill and then the A76 and B797 over the Mennock Pass to Leadhills. Then, there were these great biking roads, winding up and down and through valleys, and then at the Menock Pass I saw lots of cars, campervans and wild camping tents along the Menock Water. However, it was not just a camping area, as people were prospecting for gold in the river. Apparently, gold was first found here in 16^th century, and it was used to make the Scottish Crown Jewels. Traces of the precious metal can still be found today, so you can get yourself a gold panning license, a sieve, and join the gold rush!

Next I came to Wanlockhead and was surprised to see a sign stating that it was the highest village in Scotland. I had always thought of Tomintoul as the highest village, but at 1531 feet above sea level, Wanlockhead ‘only’ beats Tomintoul at 1132 feet. After a quick breakfast at Abington Services, I discovered that my planned route on the A73 through Lanark had been closed, so I was on the motorway and quickly heading home.

The Borders really surprised me with great roads and spectacular scenery, easily accessible from Glasgow or Edinburgh, and it’s also easy to reach from south of the border with Dumfries only 34 miles from Carlisle. My day ride really only involved coastal sections of the SW300, but this established driving route helped me discover some of the best riding in the south-west Scottish Borders. Bikers racing north on the A74(M) don’t know what they’re missing.