Thinking of a short camping tour of Northern Scotland at Easter....or maybe summer...

Bikermike1411 said:
Right. I think I have a rough idea about what i can realistically fit in, and what I'd like to do.

If I stay somewhere near Fort William I can have a nice ride up on the Tuesday. I'll not be away until about 10am, and want to be done riding by 5pm. I think 7 hours is realistic to get up there and get pitched up before 6pm at the latest.

Can anyone suggest a loop i can do on day 2? I'm only going to have the one day 'in' Scotland before I need to head back on day 3. I need a night's sleep at home before going away again on the Friday!

I was thinking of this:

Fort William -> Applecross (just so I can say i've been there) ->Torridon ->Kinlochewe -> Garve -> Muir of Ord -> Drumnadrochit -> Fort Augustus -> Fort William

It's about 250 miles, with a google maps time of about 6 1/2 hours. If i'm camping I'll be up and away by about 8.30am, so i've plenty of time to get around.

One of my major concerns, daftly, is petrol stations. The route i've loosely picked out is on small roads (which largly look tarmacked single tracks). This is, I expect, going to take longer than I think, and involve a lot of 3rd-4th gear so will not be particularly efficient. Between Applecross and Garve there's no 'A' roads - just 50 miles of narrow twisties. As long as I can fill up on the A87 before turning off I should be fine though.

Any thoughts on the route, or where I could stay near Fort William (within about 20 miles if necessary!). I am prepared to camp, but was hoping to find some other cheap form of accommodation (the 'By The Way' campsite in Tyndrum has 'hobbit houses' you can rent for £35 per night - a glorified shed with a bed and a heater, which may be better than camping at that time of year (4th-5th April).

Cheers
Mike
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The "Bunroy" campsite at Spean bridge just past Fort William is a good site for camping, and has pods as well. Just fill up at Fort William and this will set you up no problems for fuel if you plan it right, the route you have sounds good and have done it myself a few times, enjoy :thumby:
 
As has been said, no problems will fuel stop offs. On the way to Applecross fuel at Lochcarron and also Applecross which has a community owned filling station. A deviation to your route could be to head to Mallaig from Fort William, passing Glenfinnan viaduct, then get the ferry to Armadale (9.40, 11.00, 12.00 morning sailings- best pre book at peak times). You can then nip down to the bridge, over to Kyle of Lochalsh and then onwards by the coast road and Plockton back road to Strome Ferry (no Ferry) and Lochcarron.
When passing through Garve, worth stopping off at the food van at the village hall on the left which has rather good burgers/cakes/coffee/soup etc.
Which ever way you choose, I'm sure you will have a great trip!
 
west coast traveller said:
As has been said, no problems will fuel stop offs. On the way to Applecross fuel at Lochcarron and also Applecross which has a community owned filling station. A deviation to your route could be to head to Mallaig from Fort William, passing Glenfinnan viaduct, then get the ferry to Armadale (9.40, 11.00, 12.00 morning sailings- best pre book at peak times). You can then nip down to the bridge, over to Kyle of Lochalsh and then onwards by the coast road and Plockton back road to Strome Ferry (no Ferry) and Lochcarron.
When passing through Garve, worth stopping off at the food van at the village hall on the left which has rather good burgers/cakes/coffee/soup etc.
Which ever way you choose, I'm sure you will have a great trip!
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Thanks WCT, that is a great suggestion! I've mapped it out, and it comes in at about 250 miles still, but with the added 'excitement' (oooooooh! :D) of a ferry trip. Sad, but it's always a bit exciting putting your bike on a boat..... plus it passes my two favorite distilleries - Talisker and Glen Ord. You can only get the Glen Ord whisky at the distillery itself (it's an export whisky since Singleton took over the brand), so I may have to pop in and pick up a bottle. It'd be rude not to....

Got to say, I was slightly apprehensive about the whole thing. It's going to be cold in a tent (although i'm a well seasoned camper), i've not been away by myself before and I don't like being pushed for time when i'm out on the bike. However, I'm hoping this'll be a great experience in it's own right.

Bazman - thanks for the suggestion about Bunroy - i've looked at it already and may just stay there. I'm hoping to find a place with a pub on/near the site, so I don't have to retire to my tent too early! I'll have a look at what it offers though. :thumb2
 
I've just done the NC500 this week, apart from snow on the hills and over Apple cross, it was plain sailing with virtually no traffic on the roads. As mentioned JOG was dead and hardly worth going to, but if you've never been then I guess its a box ticking exercise. I was planing on camping but none of the camp sites open until easter, I stayed in the caledonian hotel in Ullapool the first night, cheap and cheerful, then Thurso the second night (not a lot happening there on a night). Enjoy your trip wherever you go, but do agree parts of the NC500 could be a pain later in the year, there is a lot of single track roads in very poor condition and tight enough on the bike never mind a camper van.
 

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Looks lovely up there Bob!

I'm sticking further south - Applescross to Garve is the only single track part of the route, camping at Bunroy near Spean Bridge. They open the day before I've planned to get there!!


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Despite the liquid sunshine forecast for the weekend i've just booked my ferry ticket to Skye. Now i just need to get everything packed ont the bike and get up there on Saturday!

looking forward to it now...... :)
 
if you're camping and like a good pub see if you can arrange a night at the red squirrel campsite in glen coe, there's a pub 5 mins walk from it called the clachaig inn which is usually a great night and has live music most weekends. it's become my spring/summer weekend getaway overnighter.
 
Hope you are enjoying it. Let us know how you got on. Looking at doing a similar (ish) trip on a sportsbike over Easter ( not ideal but the only time I could free up).
 
Got back this evening after two nights and 1050 amazing miles. Absolutely cracking weekend away on some of the best roads I'd never ridden. And the minor mechanical yesterday 30 miles from the campsite after a 300 mile loop didn't dampen the affair whatsoever!

I'll stick a full ride report up when I get chance this week!


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Bikermike1411 said:
Got back this evening after two nights and 1050 amazing miles. Absolutely cracking weekend away on some of the best roads I'd never ridden. And the minor mechanical yesterday 30 miles from the campsite after a 300 mile loop didn't dampen the affair whatsoever!

I'll stick a full ride report up when I get chance this week!


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Looking forwards to that. And the best bit is the roads get even more spectacular north of Ullapool so hopefully more adventures to come!!
 
Well done and glad that you managed to time the meteo, come back again and explore the small un-classified roads and even some of the long dead ends..some of the best riding in Europe in some stunning unpopulated areas..just get the weather right :D
 
I went over the Belach Na Ba to Applecross, where I stayed all of 30 seconds (it was teeming with doddering tourists). Rather than head back over the pass to Shieldag I headed north to Fearnmore. That has to be one of the major highlights of the trip! Absolutely stunning road, glad I ignored the sat-nav!

I honestly can't wait to get back up there this summer....hopefully i'll find somewhere quiet at that time of year, but I reckon a 'first weekend in April' trip north could be on my regular calendar now!
 
mspenz said:
Well done and glad that you managed to time the meteo, come back again and explore the small un-classified roads and even some of the long dead ends..some of the best riding in Europe in some stunning unpopulated areas..just get the weather right :D
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+1. As well as the dead end coastal roads, I love the "hydro" access roads especially in early autumn when the glens are at there best (IMHO of course!).
 
Bikermike1411 said:
I went over the Belach Na Ba to Applecross, where I stayed all of 30 seconds (it was teeming with doddering tourists). Rather than head back over the pass to Shieldag I headed north to Fearnmore. That has to be one of the major highlights of the trip! Absolutely stunning road, glad I ignored the sat-nav!

I honestly can't wait to get back up there this summer....hopefully i'll find somewhere quiet at that time of year, but I reckon a 'first weekend in April' trip north could be on my regular calendar now!
Click to expand...

A terrific road....not a particularly special 'biking' road at the top end, but the views from it.....

Applecross, much as I love it and enjoy staying there off season, sadly has become a victim of its own success....the Potting Shed just a bit north is a good place to stop when the Inn is stowed out with folk.

Another challenge is to ride to the aerial if you can get your bike round the gate near the top of the bealach...its been done!
 
gerarddwatts said:
Another challenge is to ride to the aerial if you can get your bike round the gate near the top of the bealach...its been done!
Click to expand...

Im intrigued by the potential for this..... Perhaps more so the ability for my GS to take me places off the beaten track I wouldn't normally be able to reach. I'd love to try some light green laning/gravel roads! There's no doubt many light off-road sections around Scotland. There seemed to be a huge stretch parallel to the A9 coming down from Dalwhinnie, and I found myself wondering who uses them and where they go to........


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