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Bike touring routes & trails

Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve, Loch Calder & Reay loop from Altnabreac train station

Routes

Bike touring routes & trails

Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve, Loch Calder & Reay loop from Altnabreac train station

Hard

riders

Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve, Loch Calder & Reay loop from Altnabreac train station

05:53

83.6km

550m

Cycling

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Last updated: June 6, 2024

Waypoints

Altnabreac Railway Station

Highlight • Structure

Altnabreac railway station is an incredibly rural station on the Far North Line which is 133 miles down the line from Inverness. The reason behind the stations construction remains a mystery. At the time of construction it was 8 miles from the nearest settlement and 10 miles from the nearest road! The station had a passing loop with a water tank so it may have been built for operational reasons.

The station sits on a private dirt road marked as a cycle trail on OS maps. Being 7 miles from the nearest road and 11 miles from the nearest village the station is listed as one of Britains most isolated railway station. Dixe Wills once said of the area:

"What is all the more remarkable is that the following events took place took place in the vicinity of the most remote station on my itinerary, a place girded round by peat-black lochs and dismal bogs and overshadowed by dark, anonymous plantations of doomed conifers, where nothing of any note has happened these past 70 years save for intense despondent brooding."

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8.73 km

Loch More Beach

Highlight • Lake

Loch More is a freshwater loch that has been dammed to allow the water levels of the river Thurso to be controlled. This allows the estate to maintain good fishing water downstream.
It's a pretty and remote place to visit with a few nice little beaches at the northern end near the track.

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17.8 km

Dale Mill on the River Thurso

Highlight • Structure

Dale Mill on the River Thurso houses a hydroelectric generator that powers the heating in the nearby Dale House. It was installed in 1919, ahead of the times! The original mill and building is obviously older but the date of construction isn't clear.

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67.9 km

Forsinard Flows Gravel Road

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

A cracking segment of gravel road that's as sandy as it is gravelly - channel those Belgian beach cyclo-cross vibes! It passes through the Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve from the main road to Altnabreac station and passes through both moorland and woodlands. Enjoy!

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