Route guides Mabie Forest

How to get there:: Follow M74. Exit Dumfries. Follow A701 to Dumfries (approx 20miles). At Dumfries town centre pick up signposts for Solway coast. Travel this road about 4 miles and the car park is on right hand side and is clearly marked. MULTIMAP

Rik's red route is a great route for chilling with your mates and having a laugh. The overall route is not too steep nor the climbs too long, however that said there are some great downhill sections with fast beams and small jumps and drop offs.

From the start at the car park the route has a short climb through the forest to a small section on raised wooden planks which are wide enough not to unsettle regular mountain bikers.

From here the route goes round a small loop which climbs to the top of a hill where the ground turns into natural and slightly rocky singletrack. Follow this for a short distance and then the first real downhill section of the day begins. Down the natural singletrack, with a drop off or two to boot. This takes you back to the end of the raised north shore type section which you then pass on your way outward to the rest of the route.

Follow the fire road upwards and eventually bear right along some more quality single track. The downhill section that awaits at the end of this section is very enjoyable indeed. Fast and flowing with berms, drop offs and small jumps. This section will put a smile on your face.

From here the trail continues in much the same fashion, ups and downs and the trail just seems to have a natural flow and feel to it. Slightly rocky at times a full sus bike would be recommended, especially by me as I was on a Hardtail.

Points of interest on the trail include two north shore balance beams the first of which is the harder of the two. This involves both a slight turn and also pedalling uphill. All this while trying to balance on planks about 6-8inches wide. I am very sad to say that this defeated me – this time! The second balance type obstacle is longer and straighter, which was a relief to me as this time I managed to get myself over the initial fear. Needless to say shieldsy was off like a mad man on both of these.
The trail also has a sweet drop off followed by small set of doubles. Here we split the duties with Shieldsy doing the drop and me going for the doubles. Unfortunately I was slightly short but next time I shall fly those little buggers.

Rik's red route is not for the beginner but is highly enjoyable and a change from our usual rides.

UNFORTUNATELY.The Black route jump park was not very well sign posted and we could not be bothered retracing our steps to find it although next time we shall be better prepared.

Submitted by Malkygee

Well we managed to find the jump park and very good it is too. When we arrived there we seen a load of kids hangin around and doing some crazy jumps, personally i decided to take it easy as the jumps were quite rough. It is a great way to end a quality day out though so if you go to Mabie have a look for the jump park near the end. It is located at the bottom of the red section beside the last black route section where the rocky bit is. Frank you'll remember that bit eh?

Update:: The Black route at mabie is well and truly under way. The first Black route section is a technical delight with loads of skinnies made from trees cut in half. Zig Zagging its way down through the forest this section is quite scary and will have you at your limits of skill.











The north shore section named the dark side has went crazy. It is now fully complete and is very difficult to complete all the sections - a good few more trips to mabie are definately required. At the end of the Dark Side is a drop of which would be good to have a few practise shots on, which i will definately be doing the next time, to prepare yourself for the kona gap jump. Check the pics and the vid for more details. View vid here