Highlands to Hebrides
Scottish Highlands & Inner Hebrides, Scotland
A point-to-point ride from Glasgow to Oban, threading the Scottish Highlands before crossing to the Inner Hebrides. It mixes forest gravel and Highland doubletrack with remote estate tracks and peat bog that turns into hike-a-bike. Expect big weather, long gaps between resupply, and bothies and remote railway stations exactly when you need them.
The profile of Skye dividing two impossible blues, the Atlantic and a clear Scottish sky
Bothy nights, honesty-box snacks at Rannoch and Corrour, and short ferries to the isles
Six days of Highland gravel with pints, pies, and a proper hike-a-bike story to tell
The Highlands to Hebrides is a 485 kilometre point-to-point bikepacking route from Glasgow to the west-coast ferry town of Oban, cutting up through the Scottish Highlands before crossing to the Inner Hebrides. It runs around 40 percent unpaved, stitching forest gravel, Highland doubletrack, and remote estate tracks together with a few stretches of peat bog that will have you off the bike and pushing. Six days is a realistic window for a fit rider carrying camping kit.
Davide Lombardo and four friends rode it in early May on a mix of steel gravel and touring bikes, a farewell trip on an ageing Surly Midnight Special. Read their full story here.
The opening miles share the Badger Divide and the West Highland Way, so expect company before a sharp turn peels you off into the quiet. From there the route earns its keep. Around Rannoch Moor and out on the Ardnamurchan peninsula the surface breaks down into rough, saturated ground where the bog can take a wheel to the hub. Run wide tires at low pressure, keep the load light, and accept that some sections are simply a walk. A rugged gravel or adventure bike with clearance for 50 mm rubber is the right tool here.
Resupply is the real puzzle out here. Villages sit far apart and many tearooms keep their own hours, so carry more food than feels necessary. The saviours on the middle days are the remote railway stations at Rannoch and Corrour, whose waiting rooms offer shelter, a kettle, and honesty-box snacks when everything else is shut. Nights work well in the bothies kept up by the Mountain Bothies Association, though you should still carry a full camping setup in case they are full or off your line. The last two days are island days, linked by short ferries out to Mull before the final run down to Oban.
Self-sufficiency is the price of entry: pack for rain and wind whatever the forecast promises, carry a proper first-aid kit, and give yourself time to go slowly when the ground demands it. For a longer, harder Highland crossing, the An Turas Mor runs north from Glasgow all the way to Cape Wrath, and there are more rides in our UK bikepacking routes.
