Exploring New Trails in Dunoon - Video

We quickly coined this place, a town many haven't even heard of, Costa Del Dunoon. There are many similarities in fact; warm temperatures, sun, beaches, promenades, yachts and a stunning coastline. Ok, so we might have been lucky with the weather but the rest is true. Add to that a friendly community and countless and every grown mountain bike trails; Scotland has a new mountain biking destination about to burst onto the scene.



Dunoon might be off the radar for a lot of people. Colleagues at work wondered where I was heading for the weekend and even Ronan, our photographer, admitted during the trip that he didn't know where we were going as we pack the van in Perth to drive there for the weekend. Thankfully Nash Masson knew where Dunoon was and he thankfully called shotgun. Travelling to Dunoon after work on the Friday was a breeze, we trucked down from Perth, through Glasgow and onto Gourock where we grabbed our ferry tickets from the local convenience store and jumped on the regular Western Ferries service to Dunoon.

Costa Del Dunoon and I’m excited to see how this place evolves over the next few years.

Having grown up in Oban I was all too familiar with Dunoon, which sits on the Eastern edge of Argyll and Bute along the Firth of Clyde, which runs up and into Glasgow. Returning after almost 15 years I reminisced of my outdoor week from Primary School. Thankfully I could now enjoy a whisky in the local pub and sample the cuisine at the restaurants in town. There's no shortage and the fish and chips went down perfectly after riding for the day. Stewart, our guide for the weekend and a fellow racer made sure we saw the area and the trails on offer. The majority of trails have been hand crafted by Dunoons finest import, Tomasz! If you ever needed more of a reason to vote to stay in the EU then this is your answer. He's spent the last four years digging, shaping and grafting hard building on from his original T1 track. When trails have names like,"The Bad" and "Tight as you like" then you know you're in for a treat.

These bridges were build for the lords wife as a present – a challenging feature to ride.

The impressive views from the top looking out over Dunoon and the Firth of Clyde are an idyllic vantage point for scoping out the trails. Stuart pointing in every direction naming trails and exclaiming, We'll do that one the next weekend you come down. He's right though; I will be back in Dunoon soon, certainly for the Scottish Enduro Series round that's being hosted in September, if not before. The team at Dunoon Presents is working closely with the SES organisers to put on a memorable weekend of racing. Get your entry in if you haven't already.


Towered trails provided some incredible contrast. Bamboo planted outside the old wine cellars. Nash and I had an unreal day of riding, exploring the area and finding some of it's hidden gems including a Bamboo forest, open hillside trails and tight woods. We were well entertained.

Serious stoke levels before starting one of the descents down into Dunoon.

Sunday was to throw some additional stoke into the already awesome weekend we were having. Kyle "Stokagegram" Beattie of team BaseCamp bike/thecyclejersey.com rocked up for the day. Word must have spread that these trails were worth a trip for and Kyle heading down the West Coast from Aviemore, along Loch Lomond and over the Rest and Be Thankful to Dunoon. The sun stayed open and we made sure to get a summit to sea descent. Forget Canada's sea to summit road, you've got to check out Dunoon's summit to sea trails. I was not expecting this and I don't think Kyle or Nash were either. We broke the stoke-o-meter and sessioned trails all day together.

Sending some of the jumps to be found on T1 trail.

Finally thanks to this awesome group for an incredible weekend!

Interested in riding in Dunoon then check out the site Explore Cowal and Dunoon Presents for up and coming events.

Filmed and Edited by:
Glen Thomson Films
Photos By:
Ronan Dugan
Words By:
Chris Hutchens