There's a road that climbs out the back of Aberfoyle and tracks west through Loch Ard Forest, then over the watershed and down to the western shore of Loch Katrine. It's called the Statute Labour Road, named after the 1669 Act of the Scottish Parliament that let local Justices of the Peace conscript tenants to do the road-mending themselves. Tenants supplied the labour, the cart, the horse, the lot, all unpaid. People have been complaining about the climb on it for over 250 years.
Photo: Peter Wood, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph
At the far end, a small pier on Loch Katrine, a café that does proper sit-in lunches, and a steamship called the SS Sir Walter Scott. Lock the bike, walk in, eat. That's the Stronachlachar cycle route in one paragraph.
The route
23km out (14 miles), 373m of climbing, 23km back. The 'out' climbs steadily across a long, gentle haul. Mostly fine forest gravel, some rougher stretches where it's eroded, never technical. You start by following Inversnaid signs out of the village across the bridge, drop into Loch Ard Forest near Milton, and pick up the historic line of the Statute Labour Road. Half-decent legs, a couple of hours. Stopping for photos at the views over Loch Ard, longer.
Photo: Alan O'Dowd, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph
The 'back' is the same in reverse, mostly downhill with the gravity in your favour. People who feel sorry for themselves on the way out cheer up considerably between Stronachlachar and the village.
Total: 46km (28.5 miles), around four hours of moving plus lunch and a long sit at the pier. Most of a day for most people; a long half-day if you're quick and don't linger.
Lunch at the Pier Café
The Pier Café is family-run, licensed, and on the bank of Loch Katrine right where the boat ties up. Hot lunches, soup and baking, sit in or take away, the kind of food that puts you back together after a climb. Dogs and mucky boots are welcome. There are seats inside with windows over the loch and benches outside if the midges aren't out yet.
Heads up on opening hours, because this is the bit that catches people. In summer they're open seven days a week, 10am to 5pm (6pm on Saturdays). Winter hours are shorter and they change them, so if you've ridden 23km uphill on a Tuesday in November expecting a hot meal at the top, you may be eating a flapjack on the pier instead. Check thepiercafe.uk before you set out.
Walk-ins are fine. If you're a big group, book a table through their site first.
What to bring
A bike with tyres at least 35mm. Our gravel and hardtail hire bikes are perfectly suited to it. Road bikes are not. If you're weighing up your own bike against one of ours, we've written about that.
Lights if you're starting late. Loch Ard Forest has thick canopy and the daylight cuts off earlier than open ground.
Money or a card for the café.
Layers. The exposed top section near Stronachlachar is windier and noticeably cooler than the village even in July.
A waterproof, even if the forecast looks decent. The west of Scotland has its own ideas.
A packed lunch in your bag, in case the café's shut or busy.
Gravel is the weapon of choice for this one. You'll get to the café faster and probably enjoy it more. A hardtail will do the job fine, it'll be comfier over the rougher bits, but it'll take you longer and it's more work. Whichever you're on, our hire bikes are set up for exactly this ride.
What can go sideways
Three honest warnings:
Café closed and you didn't check. Easy fix, see above.
Forestry operations. Loch Ard Forest is a working forest, and Forestry and Land Scotland sometimes closes sections for tree work. Signs go up at the trailheads, but it's worth glancing at the Forestry and Land Scotland page for Loch Ard if your day is built around this ride.
Loose gravel after rain. The Statute Labour Road drains well, but heavy rain can leave a few sections washed out. Slow down on descents in those conditions; the bike moves around more than you'd expect on dry days.
And the boat
If the idea of riding 23km uphill, eating, then riding 23km back doesn't appeal, there is another option. Both vessels on the loch (the SS Sir Walter Scott and the motor vessel Lady of the Lake) carry bikes between Stronachlachar and Trossachs Pier at the east end of Loch Katrine, £3 for a hire bike and £5 for your own. That direction only runs May to October, though, and there's one afternoon sailing back, at 3.30pm. Pre-book the bike space, not just the seat. From Trossachs Pier you ride home to Aberfoyle over Duke's Pass on the A821, or on the quiet forest tracks through Achray Forest.
Coaches at Pier, Stronachlachar, Valentine's postcard, probably 1930s. Courtesy of the Strathard Heritage Digital Archive
Skip the boat and ride the waterworks road round the north shore to Trossachs Pier instead (about 21km / 13 miles of tarmac, almost traffic-free, a few hills) and you've turned a there-and-back into the full Loch Katrine circular. It's a much bigger day, and it's got its own post alongside the rest of our route guides. For most people, out-and-back to the café is the simpler call.
If 46km is more than you fancy today, the half-day loop round Doon Hill and the fairy minister's grave is the short history ride from the same start.
Come and ride it. Grab a coffee at ours before you climb out of the village, and if the weather's clear, take ten minutes at the top to look at the loch before you start eating.
