Glen Finglas Cycle

Start: Glen Finglas car park
From Brig o' Turk on the A821 turn up the lane by the tea room to find the car park a little way after the school.

Distance: 15 miles (or 17 miles if extended route used)

Elevations: Start - 400ft. Highest point: 1950 ft

Get the bike out and take the steepening road up the hill from the car park (not the road marked private Scottish water)  then get off and push for 10 minutes!

At the top, look forward to a long downhill with great views of the dam and the Loch on the left.

After about a mile the bike track becomes gravelly and drops right down to the Loch.

Keep to the left at every fork in the road and eventually the track becomes very rough and a left fork takes you down to the northern end of the loch..

A long climb steepens for a while, then very steep before easing a little to reach the high point of about 1900 feet.

Views here are extensive and its worth stopping for a breather and to enjoy the vast panoramas.

You now experience a bit of challenging descent through some rough downgrades before rejoining the original track at the lochside for the return trip.

On the descent you may notice a narrow footpath leading off to the left - this leads to Balquhidder via Glenbuckie but there are some very wet boggy sections which make the Glenbuckie track unattractive to the cyclist.

For a longer and more energetic route, start your ride east of Brig o' Turk at the new Glen Finglas car park near Lendrick.

Cross the bridge and within a few yards of passing through a gate, turn right and get off to push your bike up a steep gravel track. After a hard shove the track becomes rideable with one or two sharp hills to keep you on your toes.

Views are extensive over Loch Achray to Ben Venue and back over Loch Venachar to the Menteith Hills.

Levelling out now the ride becomes easy before descending via a gate to join the main Glen Finglas road just above the dam. Continue at  above.

After completing the ride and reaching the car park below the dam, continue down the public road to the A821 and turn left. A half mile ride returns you to the alternative start point