Author Topic: Loch Etive route  (Read 4162 times)

Loch Etive route
« on: 07 September, 2013, 10:08:30 am »
Can you get from Bonawe ( Connel Bridge ) through to Glen Etive?
Some maps show a loch side route but others show that it stops after Cadderlie.

What's the deal with the quarry gates too, do you just pedal through or need permission?
OnOne Pickenflick - Tour De Fer 20 - Pinnacle Arkose cx - Charge Cooker maxi2 fatty - GT Zaskar Carbon Expert

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #1 on: 07 September, 2013, 05:02:07 pm »
We were walking there many years ago and got back to the car just as 2 guys on dirt/motocross bikes appeared from the bonawe side. Apparently took them all day and there was a bit of shoving of bikes required. They looked relieved to have hit tarmac again but can't be easy pushing bikes that size and weight even if you are using the engine to keep momentum going.

They said stretches were 'muddy'.  ;D

Might be worth trying some off road motorcycle sites, I found some useful info there when I had a mad idea to ride the corrieyairack pass on a trike.  I decided not to trike it!

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #2 on: 07 September, 2013, 05:15:28 pm »
Thanks for the info. I've been googling most of the day planning a few routes, the best info I found was on an angling forum regarding the gates. You can just go through but they are closed at 4.00pm to stop motorbikes and cars racing there!

A few mtb routes say that the north is boggy and rocky. That's where the dirt bikes must have been returning from so you must be able to ride through to Ballachulish. I think my mtb may be easier to push/carry than a motorbike, only just though ;)

I'll try a few dirt bike sites to see if I an find anymore info out.

Thanks :thumbsup:
OnOne Pickenflick - Tour De Fer 20 - Pinnacle Arkose cx - Charge Cooker maxi2 fatty - GT Zaskar Carbon Expert

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #3 on: 18 September, 2013, 10:12:17 pm »
I've done this ride today  :thumbsup:

The weather was rubbish, it's rained here for four days non stop!

You can easily get through the quarry, they've built a path so you can avoid the trucks etc. The path then leads you to the the track on the far side of the quarry. It's a good track for about 10 miles, a little sandy in patches. The track then turns rocky between Cadderlie and Dail.  I was on a fully rigid and it was a bit jarring even with a low psi. The road forks at Barrs lodge, right side takes you to the boathouse which is a dead end  :facepalm: a steep climb back up the hill and the left track takes you to glen Etive. After crossing a ford the track turns into two tyre tracks only, deeply rutted! Another couple of miles and the track is no longer there. I travelled a fair way but it was extremely boggy and very rocky. I was pushing and lifting the bike more than riding it. I got close enough to see the road in Glen Etive at the north of the loch and then turned around to head back.

It rained 99% of the trip, 74.3 miles,  30 on road 15 to the quarry/15 back with the rest off road.

So it can be done but its knackered me trying to find out ;D

MOST IMPORTANT: midges 0 ticks 0  :thumbsup:

Glen Etive by - David Bithell ( oggl @DJB )-
OnOne Pickenflick - Tour De Fer 20 - Pinnacle Arkose cx - Charge Cooker maxi2 fatty - GT Zaskar Carbon Expert

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #4 on: 19 September, 2013, 11:38:58 am »
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/56.5149/-5.1306&layers=N

Inspire by bumper's post I've just spent an hour or so plotting this on Openstreetmap. In Bing it was possible to see the track well past  The Barrs Lodge turn off but not all the way.

I remember the  Kinlochetive end when I did some climbing on the Etive Slabs in the early 70s.  There  is  a  rough path to the foot of the slabs but I couldn't pick it out  for the Bing photographs.

It would be good if some one could  edit the  data for gates etc around the quarries and improve this.

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #5 on: 19 September, 2013, 04:20:18 pm »
I can't see your map because the interwebs connection I'm on is very poor here.

The quarry gate won't be a problem if you're on a bike, you can carry your bike around it or over it if closed. It's just a deterrent for nobbers in cars/4x4s. Any other gates are just normal forest gates that keep cattle in and deer out so are unlocked. The track is difficult to see on any maps because it just stops :D I could have gone straight through to Glen Coe but I'd had enough. The last few miles were hard work, I was up to my knees in water a couple of times and the weather didn't clear until I got back to the bothy. I also think the fine gravel and sand has finally finished my chain off too. There are some seriously fast descents and the sand almost stops you dead at the bottom of them!

 I think I'm going to do it again but in a summer month, it's just far too wet now. It's a great little adventure route if you're up her on a mtb but I wouldn't dream of using a tourer with fat tyres! You could do it on a mtb with panniers but the lifting would be a problem at Glen Etive end so I'd start from Glen Coe and head to Bonawe. That way you'd be fresh to start the hard section.
OnOne Pickenflick - Tour De Fer 20 - Pinnacle Arkose cx - Charge Cooker maxi2 fatty - GT Zaskar Carbon Expert

Re: Loch Etive route
« Reply #6 on: 19 September, 2013, 07:16:15 pm »
link to Bing Aerial photo  http://binged.it/18doTwB