Route Description
Start at Kirkmichael Village Shop and follow the Cateran Trail towards Bridge of Cally. The route passes two churches and the Bannerfield, home to the Kirkmichael Highland Games each August, before continuing on wide gravel tracks to the edge of a woodland.
Leaving the Cateran Trail, the route follows a Land Rover track with expansive views across Strathardle. As you approach the woodland, a faint path leads through the heather around its edge. The next section requires a short hike-a-bike through the trees to reach the far side, where you’ll find the site of the former Pitcarmick Roundhouses, Bronze Age dwellings. This part of Perthshire contains one of the densest concentrations of these settlements in Scotland.
Beyond, the route continues on a rough, bumpy track before descending to the Balnaid Burn. The final approach is often boggy, though timber planks help with progress, and you’ll need to lift your bike over a small bridge to cross a hydro scheme.
On the far side, a good gravel track leads towards Glen Derby, where distinctive Norwegian-style houses line the route. After passing the hotel, a steady descent brings you back to Kirkmichael.
Navigation
Difficulty
Challenging, requires pushing the bike and lifting it up a set of stairs
91% off-road
Points to visit
Along the way you will find these points of interest:
Kirkmichael Village
The ancient heart of Strathardle Glen. Located in Strathardle, 13 miles north-west of Blairgowrie, Kirkmichael village dates back over 1,000 years and was once an important market in the cattle trade between the Highlands and Lowlands, with various...
Read more - "Kirkmichael Village"Kirkmichael Kirk
A forgotten corner linked to the Black Death. There is a corner of Kirkmichael Parish churchyard where, despite the lack of space, there are no marked graves. This is because in 1350 AD, a terrible plague, the Galor Mor, better known as the Black...
Read more - "Kirkmichael Kirk"Duff Memorial Church
A memorial to Scotland’s first missionary to India. Born in the parish of Moulin in 1806, Alexander Duff was first educated in what is now the Kirkmichael Session House. He boarded with the brilliant teacher Mr Macdougall, returning home to...
Read more - "Duff Memorial Church"The Bannerfield
An important site in the 1715 Jacobite Rising. A large area of open ground on the west bank of the River Ardle, just south of the Kirkmichael village, is known as the Bannerfield. It was here in September 1715 that John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar...
Read more - "The Bannerfield"
Pitcarmick Roundhouses
Site of Bronze Age dwellings. This area has been farmed since the early Bronze Age, during which time people lived in round houses – remnants of which, like these, you can see today. Indeed, this part of Perth and Kinross contains one of the...
Read more - "Pitcarmick Roundhouses"
