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Mountain biking

looking south over the Pentland Hills, just outside of Edinburgh

looking south over the Pentland Hills

The Pentland Hills, just south of Edinburgh

The Pentland Hills

Enjoy some fantastic off-road biking in Edinburgh and the Lothians with many great mountain biking routes within easy reach of Edinburgh city centre. Have a break from urban road-riding and enjoy the fresh air, and the mud, of Edinburgh’s countryside.

One of the best areas to enjoy miles of off-road cycling is the Pentland Hills Regional Park just outside of Edinburgh. With 60 miles (100km) of paths to explore there is something for cyclists of all abilities and levels of fitness to enjoy, from families to experienced mountain bikers.

All the paths are colour coded for guidance so you can easily plan a route through the amazing panoramic scenery of the Pentland Hills. Green routes are surfaced tracks or paths and offer careful cycling, yellow routes consist of un-surfaced paths with steep, boggy and rough sections whilst red routes over the hilltops are definitely for mountain biking. You can download a guide to cycling in the Pentlands or pick-up a hard copy from Boghall Farm.

There are many other great off-road cycle routes you can enjoy such as the short but enjoyable Round Edinburgh off-road route which includes some hills in the Pentlands as well as some fabulous scenery and the less challenging Pentland Hill Reservoirs route which takes you from central Edinburgh and down some of the superb dirt tracks and canal paths just outside the city centre.

Find out more about established cycle routes on Sustrans and routes suggested by other cyclists on the Cycle Route website.