Galloway Gallop Adventure Cross

The Galloway Gallop route is predominantly forest road so is significantly less technical than some other rounds, however that doesn’t mean there is no variation in surface as you will be riding everything from loose gravel to bedrock or even crushed shells, a highly unusual man-made surface.

There is plenty of challenging climbs and the views at the top are breathtaking, more so than the effort of climbing them. Hold something back for Archie’s Alp which occurs right at the end of both routes and is a test for your legs even when fresh.

One of the key things to be aware of is the exposed nature of parts of this route, whilst there are lots of sections within the shelter of the forests there is also long stretches of open moorland. Fingers crossed for a glorious day as in previous years but even so make sure you are carrying extra layers.

Galloway forest was given the status of Dark-Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky association, a reflection of how empty the park is – there are no homes or street lights to pollute the night sky. However whilst the forest appears initially empty of man-made intrusions, the evidence of human activity is all around.