Balblair is a true black grade trail. Accordingly, it attracts dedicated and experienced mountain bikers who want to test themselves.
With grippy, flowing bedrock that you would swear was sculpted to ride on, and stunning views over the Kyle of Sutherland, Carbisdale Castle and surrounding hills, a trip to Balblair is an assault on all of the senses. The Balblair black trail, around 17kms in length, provides two to three hours riding at least. It is made up of roughly a third of bedrock, a third 'woodwork' (with boards, bridges and causeways), with the remaining third being hard-packed dirt, thanks to the high quality mineral soil. The wooden sections are coated with a rubber/sand paint which makes it grippy, even in the wet – it’s nearly as grippy as the rocks! Balblair Trails cater for the less experienced too with an extensive network of forest roads and the smooth flowing singletrack decent of the Ceilidh Trail. The more experience riders will test their skills on the strenuous climbing rock sections including ‘Hard Rock’ – a lung busting technical climb that you’ll be doing well to clear first time round. The gravity assisted sections include Candy Mountain – a combination of sloping bedrock and sweeping berms and the super fast ‘Loopy Loo’. There is even a very tricky hand cut decent on the section called ‘Slab Happy’. Variety is the name of the game at Balblair.
