Laggan Wolftrax - The iconic highland trail centre to start work on a much awaited blue trail!

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A new blue trail for Laggan Wolftrax! The Laggan Forest Trust has been awarded £100,000 towards developing a blue grade mountain bike trail from sportscotland’s Cycling Facilities Fund.

Tuesday, 22 November 2022

Laggan Wolftrax a much loved trail centre

Laggan Wolftrax is an amazing cycling facility in the Cairngorms – with some of the best trails in Scotland that are accessible to locals and visitors. Through our recent Bike Plan for the Highlands, a gap in provision of a blue route was identified. The provision of a new blue trail will meet a range of social objectives, while supporting the economy of Laggan and the Cairngorms. The project is expected to start in March 2023 with the new blue trail opening to the public before the summer holidays, by July 2023.

The design for the blue route links with existing trails to provide a better experience for all riders - a singletrack climb linking to upper and lower reds, black, a slightly extended jump line and the blue descent. The new developments will allow riders to split the trail up into 3 sections, easily lapping these smaller sections. It will also include a central trail viewpoint with access points to different trails.

The vision for the trail is to incorporate elements of existing Laggan trails - flowy in places, with typical Laggan rock slabs - providing a great introduction to the Laggan experience.

We have been working closely with Laggan Forest Trust throughout the development of this project, and the sportscotland award takes us closer to completion of this exciting project.

See full press release below.

Credit Ed Smith

Laggan Forest Trust Press Release

The Laggan Forest Trust has been awarded £100,000 towards developing a blue grade mountain bike trail from sportscotland’s Cycling Facilities Fund.

The project at Laggan Wolftrax at Strathmashie has been developed in partnership with Forestry and Land Scotland and is expected to cost around £250,000.

The funding confirmation earlier this week brings a new Laggan trail a step closer to realisation.

Cristian Pizarro, business development officer for the trust, told the Strathy: “This award will enable us to build a long-awaited blue mountain biking trail for Laggan Wolftrax and its community.

“The provision of such a trail should attract more riders, families, less experienced cyclists and provide not only a platform for progression in the sport but also a facility to aid progression for developing general cycling skills within our community.

“Above all, this trail should be fun to ride and provide a great experience for all.”

Colin Simpson, head of visitors services and active travel at the Cairngorms National Park Authority said: “While the Cairngorms National Park is a popular area for visitors to cycle and mountain bike there are still relatively few formal routes to support families and beginners.

“I’m delighted that we could support this project through our visitor infrastructure improvement programme as it not only adds to the range of easier trails available but it also helps showcase one of the less visited areas of the park and supports the businesses in and around Laggan.

“The Laggan Forest Trust has discussed the project with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is in the process of applying to them for further support.”

The project is expected to start in March, next year. and the new blue trail to be open to the public before the summer holidays by July 2023.

Laggan Wolftrax is a network of mountain biking trails built in 2004 by Forestry and Land Scotland.

The venue is also home to a visitor centre and the headquarters of the Laggan Forest Trust, a community organisation whose aims are directed at conservation, community regeneration and provision of recreation facilities including active travel.

To date, the trails are mainly on the upper level of difficulty within the grading system. There is an easy green trail, two red trails and a black trail, nationally recognised for its technical features and only rideable for very experienced mountain bikers.

A blue trail is an off-road cycling track of moderate difficulty designed for cyclists with basic off-road riding skills.

Interim chief executive of sportscotland, Forbes Dunlop, said: “This is an important fund which has the potential to make a significant and long-lasting impact on sport and physical activity.

"By investing in accessible and inclusive community facilities in advance of the event, cycling in Scotland will be ready and able to harness the enthusiasm generated by hosting the championships next year.

“The local groups and partners who have applied for funding have demonstrated a real commitment to improving the lives of their local communities and we are proud to support their ambitions.”

Credit Ed Smith

DMBinS have been supporting Laggan to develop these plans for several years. With our Highland project, funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, we have been able to focus more time to working with Laggan Forest Trust and other stakeholders to commission trail designs, and work through the planning and funding process.

Over the next few months we will continue to work closely with Laggan to bring this project to completion.