Descent to Loch Ness is star of show on ride into the sunset

ACTIVE OUTDOORS: A mountain bike ride from Inverness follows trails to reach Dores via an exciting downhill section before returning via the riverside

Special things can happen when you just make the effort to get out there – and the brief appearance of the glorious, glowing crescent moon in the post-sunset fading light was just one of them.

Venus shone brightly almost directly above it, as I looked over my shoulder and spotted the celestial light show that really added a shine to this late afternoon outing.

Sometimes I forget how much those trails close to home are really worth exploring, whether repeating a regular route or just trying a slight variation on a familiar spot.

I’m well acquainted with all the different parts of this route, but I’ve been trying to do this loop on the mountain bike since the autumn and had been struggling to fit it into a busy schedule over the winter.

So, the first day of meteorological spring seemed like the perfect time to get on with it! Even then, I didn’t really have time between family commitments and optician’s appointments… so I headed out straight from there in the late afternoon, knowing I had about an hour and a half of daylight remaining, if I was lucky.

I packed the serious front light for the second half of the ride, but I wanted to reach Dores by a steep singletrack descent that I hadn’t ridden for some time before the light faded. The rest I could handle in the dark – and in fact it might even add to the fun.

Setting off from Inverness High Street, I headed over the Ness Bridge then went left to pass the cathedral and Eden Court, turning left to follow the Riverside Way out of town. Joining the path at Whin Park, I went past the Hydro Ness renewable energy scheme then followed a path below the bridge and up to the right to cross the river on the shared-use path.

Following the road past Ness-side to the Holm roundabout (the one with the Nessie), I turned right, crossing the road then continuing to the traffic lights at the bottom of the Ness Castle estate. Go left here then cross the road to follow the blue squirrel markers through a couple of gates and onto a well-made path through the woods.

Now the offroad fun could start properly! This popular path leads behind the sprawling housing estate and eventually comes to a parking area on the Torbreck road. Go across the road here and continue through Cullaird Wood – still following those squirrel markers – to reach the farm.

I headed left on the track which, after the farm buildings, gets pretty bumpy and can get very wet, but it was nicely rideable today. It climbs as it bends right to merge onto a forest track where the views down the Great Glen entice you onwards.

The sunlight was creating beautiful colours as the last rays of the day were shining through the trees. I couldn’t help but smile at just being out here as I headed onto Drumashie Moor, the track narrowing into the heather and leading through a couple of gates to emerge at the Macbain hill.

The squirrel route – officially the South Loch Ness Trail – heads down the road from here, but there’s more offroad to be had by continuing past the gate opposite. This lovely little bit of singletrack drops to cross a small burn and then wriggles its way past a clearing and through dense, damp woodland.

At a large vehicle track, I merged left then soon turned right to find the top of that long descent to Dores. The sun was dipping closer to the horizon as I prepared for the steep and bumpy ride down.

It starts as a good track but soon deteriorates to a bumpy stone path with a few roots and rocks to keep things interesting, running parallel to an old stone wall. At a gap, the path twists 90 degrees right into the pine woods, where it then drops again, steeply between the trees on a delightfully soft surface with a few more tricky roots and rocks to overcome.

As you get close to the bottom, the trail somehow steepens again to what seems like an impossible angle as it leads narrowly between bushes. I paused for breath – and to give my braking arms a rest – before tackling this last little bit, but the steepness soon eases to something more manageable and you see the road ahead, just in time to slow down enough for it.

The endorphins were definitely firing now as I turned right to reach the Dores Inn, cutting left to ride through the almost-deserted car park and past the beach, following the path that leads to the woods beyond.

I kept to the main path that leads around the point and then north-east towards Aldourie, enjoying the long downhill on the smooth path to the pier, from where there are wonderful views over Loch Ness.

I continued past an old storage building on the right, then decided that, instead of continuing straight up the track from here, I would tackle what is now called the Kate Bush hill in our house – after it was named that way during last year’s Loch Ness 24 event – before going left at the top to reach the gate beside Aldourie Farm.

Take the newly built path past the upgraded buildings then keep ahead on the estate road, with the castle to your left, to reach a metal gate at a single-track road. It was time for the lights to go on now, before I turned left to drop down to the houses at the northernmost tip of Loch Ness.

Beyond the road end, a woodland path continues above Loch Dochfour, a distance from the water at times. Keep left at one obvious fork in the track but otherwise stick to the main route as it continues to reach the pier at Ballindarroch, where I had a choice to make.

The River Ness seemed quite high, especially in the darkness now surrounding me, and I knew I might end up having to wade through an often-flooded section a couple of kilometres ahead. I could bail now by following the track up to the road from here and then taking the tarmac back to Cullaird, or I could stick to Plan A and follow the more interesting and challenging offroad riverside route.

You know there was only ever going to be one answer, so I cut left after the solitary house and rode through the darkness along the narrow path that wriggles sometimes perilously close to the edge of a big drop to the water.

My light lit the way superbly – as it did during the Strathpuffer earlier in the year – but made me ultra-aware of this edge that barely merits a passing thought in the daylight.

It was a real joy to ride here, with the darkness making it seem like another world. Reaching the crux of the journey, I was surprised to find it easy to cross – on foot briefly – dry shod, before hopping back on the bike to continue along a soon much better track by the river.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see the moon and Venus shining brightly in the magical “blue hour” that photographers take advantage of.

The track led me past fishing lodges then up to meet the Dores road, where I turned right, counterintuitively, to soon go left onto the Torbreck road. At the parking area I crossed earlier, I turned left to go off road again.

However, rather than follow the squirrel route back from here, I had one extra offroad section to enjoy. I headed right into the woods, bumping along the path over ancient tree routes then I stayed right of the houses by going through an old gateway into the woodland to the right of the estate.

A narrow and often boggy path leads through the rhododendron bushes here before dropping nicely to the back of a new road, ducking under an old beech tree then bearing right into a field. As I followed the path through the field, a deer ran across in front of me, probably startled by my presence, and I rode on to meet a dark track where you exit the field.

Going left, I followed the track as it turns sharply right past the entrance to the Ness Castle mains then crosses a road and continues down to meet the Dores road. Turn right here then left at the “Nessie” roundabout to follow the outward route back into the city.

Route details

Inverness-Dores MTB loop

Distance 22 miles / 35 km

Terrain Cycle paths, minor roads, forest tracks, singletrack including steep descent and rocky/rooty sections

Start/finish Inverness (High Street)

Map OS Landranger 26; OS Explorer 416

Riding into the sunset on a mountain bike route from Inverness to Dores, returning to the city in darkness

Click here to see the route in OS Maps

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