How to get to the Kyle of Sutherland trails

 

The Kyle of Sutherland trails lie about 10 miles west of where the A9 crosses the Dornoch Firth on the Dornoch Bridge.  The Carbisdale trails are on the west side of the Kyle, about 7km from Ardgay and close to Culrain station.  The Balblair trails are accessible just off the A836 by Bonar Bridge.

Map showing location of the Kyle of Sutherland in Scotland (Link to an external site).

By Car

If travelling from Inverness, take the A9 north to the roundabout prior to the Dornoch Bridge (just after Tain).  Head west at the roundabout towards Ardgay on the A836.  If coming south on the A9, turn west onto the A949 prior to the Dornoch Bridge, towards Bonar Bridge and Ardgay.

For the Carbisdale trails

Follow signs for Carbisdale Castle Youth Hostel from Ardgay.  The road follows the side of the River Oykel, leading to Culrain. At Culrain, carry straight on past the station before joining the road up to the youth hostel, on the left.  The car park and trail head is about 200m along this road on the left hand side.

For the Balblair trails

Take the A836 through Ardgay and over the river into Bonar Bridge.  Follow the road through Bonar Bridge (heading towards Lairg) for around 1.5km and look for the car park and trail head on the right.

By Public Transport

National cycle route 1 runs past the Kyle of Sutherland Mountain Bike trails.  See the Sustrans website for details.

By Bus

At present there is no facility for carrying bikes on scheduled bus services that run to Ardgay or Bonar Bridge, however, Scottish Citylink runs daily connections to Tain, roughly 25km from the trails. Bikes are carried on Scottish Citylink services free of charge provided they are in an approved box or bag and that there is sufficient space in the luggage hold. See the Scottish Citylink website for further details.

By train

The nearest stations are at Culrain for Carbisdale, and Ardgay for Balblair.  Culrain station is roughly 400m from the trail head at Carbisdale, while Ardgay is just over 3km from Balblair.

You might need to book in advance to take your bike on the train.  See First Scotrail's information for cyclists.

Trains take around 1 hour and 20 minutes from Inverness to Ardgay, and 1 hour 30 minutes to Culrain.  See the First Scotrail website for more information.

By air

The nearest airport is at Inverness.  For more information see the Inverness airport website.