Carron Valley trails open

Central Scotland's first purpose built mountain bike trails have been opened at Carron Valley, near Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, by the MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Cathie Craigie.

Over 9km of trails catering for all abilities of rider have been constructed by volunteers from the Carron Valley Development Group (CVDG) working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council, Stirling Council and Forestry Commission Scotland. The professionally designed and constructed trails located within Carron Valley Forest offer an excellent recreational opportunity to the local community as well as thousands of residents living within the Central Belt.

Opening the trails, Mrs Craigie said:

"I am delighted to be opening the Carron Valley mountain bike trails. Mountain biking is an increasingly popular sport in Scotland, encouraging people to pursue an active lifestyle whilst enjoying the wonderful countryside around them. The sport is also attracting many tourists to the country who come to enjoy the many challenging and exciting trails we have to offer.

The Carron Valley trails are ideally positioned to ensure that both the local community and visitors from further afield will benefit from them. Excellent transport links, coupled with a variety of other attractions nearby, will help drive the economic development of the area.

Given the tremendous work that has been done in partnership in their development, I am confident that the trails will become a firm favourite with all who use and visit the forest."

Local biking volunteers formed the Carron Valley Development Group in 2003 to develop sustainable mountain bike routes in Carron Valley and have been the lead group involved with the project. As a recognised Scottish charity, the group has worked relentlessly to secure over £90,000 funds and engage support from a range of organisations to make their primary goal a reality.

David Russell of CVDG said:

"We are delighted with the new trails and look upon our achievements over the last three years with immense pride. We have invested literally thousands of hours in this project – from clearing and preparing areas in the forest to securing funding and contractors to help us achieve our primary goal. The trails are superbly designed and constructed and offer "big country" biking without the travelling often associated with other MTB centres. We hope this is just the beginning of something big in Carron Valley that will bring lasting economic and health benefits to the population of the Central Belt.

Of course, all this would not have been possible without the support of the partnerships we have formed with North Lanarkshire Council, Stirling Council, Forestry Commission Scotland and our funders.

Personally, the icing on the cake is the look on people's faces when they ride the trails for the first time – invariably its smiles all round! "

Mark Ruskell, Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and Convener of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Cycling, added:

"I am delighted that all the hard work has paid off and the trails are now going to be officially launched. There is a dearth of mountain biking facilities in the Central Belt and the Carron Valley is going to be a great hub for the development of the sport close to where the bulk of Scotland's population actually live. I am looking forward to trying out the trails on my mountain bike at the launch, in particular the fun park."

The Carron Valley trails comprise red-graded trails for intermediate riders and an ungraded 'fun park' trail, located near the Eastern car park of the Carron Valley Forest. The forest is situated close to Kilsyth and Stirling, within one hour of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. It is also on the doorstep of areas with the poorest health records in Scotland. Another asset of the location is that the forest is readily accessible from nearby transport links from Kilsyth, Denny and Stirling.

To find out more about CVDG visit www.carronvalley.org.uk