HT550-SCOTLAND

May 2022

DISTANCE

556 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

56,000'

DURATION

15 days

In May 2022 we pushed, pedaled, and carried our bikes for 15 days across the Highlands in the northern part of Scotland. We crossed river and bogs, endured relentless hours of hike-a-bike, and learned to not worry about trying to stay dry.

Scotland's Highlands area is beautiful with generous people, quiet towns and great food. I would recommend visiting the area to anyone, but maybe take a different route unless you love to suffer :)

MUST KNOWS

CAMPING

-You can camp anywhere or stay in Bothys (huts/shelters)

-You could even stay in a hotel/hostel/Airbnb in the various towns you pass along the route

FOOD/WATER

-Plenty of creeks along the route to fill up

-Plenty of towns along the way

NAVIGATION

-Used Ride with GPS app to follow route with phone mounted to handle bar

-We brought a Garmin InReach SE+ so we could send texts each night to family to let them know we are safe

FYI

-Scotland uses a different electrical socket and voltage than the US

-You could do this trip without a stove, but nice to have to warm up

DIFFICULTY

-We did this on full suspension mountain bikes with 2.6" tires, but you could probably do this on a less aggressive bike

-This route was very tough with hour long hike-a-bikes. I would not recommend this route for a lot of people.

RESOURCES

Ride with GPS

Bikepacking.com

DAY BY DAY SCHEDULE

Scotland daily recap

DEBRIEF

Scotland debrief