BRIAN ON LINE
 
 
With autumn now upon us and the days growing shorter and keen to take advantage of any decent weather remaining the intrepid duo headed south to the west of Stirling - destination The Trossachs. Parking at Braeval just outside Aberfoyle we completed a loop that took in part of the Rob Roy Way, a section of National Cycle Route 7 running along Loch Venachar before heading through the Achray Forest on an interesting Forestry Commission toll road to eventually deposit us the Go Ape centre adjacent to the David Marshall Lodge. From there we picked up the Highland Fault Line Trail that brought us back to the car park. The route consisted of a mix of fire roads, muddy trails, rock and water strewn paths and a nice section of single track that led down to the shores of Loch Venachar. All in all a route that will offer very little problem to a regular mountain biker but it is worth remembering that if the weather is wet or there has been significant rainfall previously the trails will become greasy and strength sapping as we found to our cost in places! Once the car was packed it was down into Aberfoyle to visit the Forth Inn and to make our acquaintance with a couple of pints of the highly recommended St. Mungo’s lager brewed in Glasgow by West Brewing For a more technical review of the trip, additional photographs and detailed GPS route files visit...... www.davebanks.scot/route_10.htmhttp://www.davebanks.scot/route_10.htmshapeimage_2_link_0
Braeval Loop, the Trossachs, OCTOber 2013
 
The Route Profile
The Route - Just shy of 18 miles