Blairadam - Brief blurb about a bite-sized bivvy break by bicycle

It would be fair to say that I’m not very talented but I am good at one thing at least and that's hunting out the best wild camping spots. Often, you can look at a map to guess a good spot and other times, you just follow your nose to find one. In the hills or more quiet parts of Scotland, it’s not difficult at all to find good wild camp spots but in the central belt, which is largely towns and farmland, it can be much more tricky. In these places, I often look for patches of forestry which have paths or tracks leading into them. These almost always offer up a spot and provide some cover as well.

You don’t always get a good view in the woods of course, so I wasn’t expecting much as I pulled into Blairadam Forest in Fife late one day looking to camp. Scanning the map beforehand, I had spotted that a track ran close to the edge of the forestry on Cowden Hill. I wondered if it might provide a pitch that was a bit more open. I cycled through the forest then investigated a more faint track towards the edge of the hill. Sure enough, it yielded a beautiful bivvy spot.

Here on the flank of Cowden Hill was a flat shelf of grass beside the remains of an old wall which provided some shelter from the chill, autumn wind. So I unloaded my bike and rolled out my bivvy bag. A steep field bounded by broadleaf trees fell away in front of me to the farmhouses below. So sharp was the drop that house martins swooped past at my eye level. At dusk, I loved watching the farmhouse lights come on in the windows which emanated a cosy glow. The rest of the forest stretched out behind me and echoed with hooting owls. But it was the bigger view from my bivvy that was quite wonderful as it looked over to Loch Leven. The rugged peaks of the Lomond Hills were the backdrop to the loch and the foreground was filled by the sweeping lines of the north slope of Benarty Hill. When it was fully dark the streetlights of Kinnesswood, on the far side of the loch, created a cluster of orange lights that crept up the slopes of Bishop Hill. Down below, the headlights of vehicles on the motorway passed noiselessly back and forward. What a great spot!

It was a joy to find the place after a day of cycling on this mini tour close to home. I had taken a short train ride to Dunfermline then pedalled along the West Fife Cycleway to Alloa. From here I picked up the Devon Way to Dollar. It was a dream cycling so far on these traffic free routes. Both are lined by trees for much of their way so you tend to lose track of exactly where you are. But when the route opened up a little, I had views over farmland to the River Forth and eventually to the steep flanks of the Ochil Hills.

From Dollar, there was an enjoyable network of tiny farm roads that linked up to take me to Cleish. The only disadvantage of these roads, especially at harvest time, is that you are likely to meet a huge tractor at some point with no room to pass! From Cleish, I made the steep cycle up the Nivinsgton Road, passing through Nivinsgton Crags. I’ve discovered this road quite recently for cycling and have quickly grown to love it. It’s steep but can be ridden even with a loaded bicycle. At the top there are expansive views over the quaint patchwork of farms which is juxtapositioned with the wildness of the loch and hills. At the top of the climb, I turned onto the dirt trails that criss-cross Blairadam Forest to source my bivvy spot for the night.

I'd brief company after supper when two mountain bikers stopped by. They were  friendly, local lads from Dunfermline and Milnathort, and wished me a good evening before heading off. It was peaceful thereafter. Droplets of water on the bivvy in the morning indicated that there must have been a shower of rain overnight but I'd slept well and was unaware. I'd planned a very short second day to get home ahead of a big storm. The wind was already picking up as I packed up, so I cycled down to Loch Ore to make breakfast. The wind whipped up the surface of the water here but the shrubbery provided a bit of shelter to make some hot coffee and porridge. From Loch Ore, a couple of miles of cycling took me to the nearest station for a train ride home to end my bite-sized break.

Fact File

More photos incl stuff on the old railway lines Here

Start: Dunfermline

Finish: Lochgelly

Public transport: Train to Dunfermline Town station; 

train back from Lochgelly station.

Route: West Fife Cycleway/National Cycle Route 764 from Dunfermline to Alloa which links to the Devon Way to Dollar. Out of Dollar took the hill road which goes round the back of Law Hill. This allowed me to avoid the A91. Where it met the A91, I turned right then a quick left towards Rumbling Bridge. Straight over the A823 for a back road to Crook of Devon. The unclassified roads to the south and east of Crook of Devon link up to Cleish to avoid the B9097 which is quite busy. Took first right after Cleish to climb the Nivingston Road then the track into the forest on the left at the top of the climb. Exited Blairadam via the Maryburgh path which I would avoid in future as there were four locked gates to get the bike over and a lot of mud and cowpats. At Maryburgh turned right on the B966 which has a good shared path beside it and took the route into Lochore Meadows signed to the left from this road. Out the far side, the B920 is a busy road into Lochgelly but has a good cycle path beside it.