Forestry Commission Scotland's Ae Line Trail at 7Stanes
UK MTB trails use colour codes to tell you what to expect. The colours are based on those used for cross-country skiing routes. The table below shows you what the colours mean for UK mountain-bikers.
| GREEN | BLUE | RED | BLACK | |
| GRADE | Easy | Moderate | Difficult | Severe |
| SUITABLE FOR | Novice cyclists and families. Children 4+yrs riding solo. Bikes with childseats or trailers. | Occasional cyclists with some experience of road use or easy trails. Reasonably fit families. Children 10+ yrs riding solo. Suitable for mountain bikes, hybrids or robust touring bikes. | Regular cyclists with experience of moderate trails. Suitable for offroad quality mountain bikes. | Expert mountain bikers who will expect and relish technical challenges. Suitable for offroad quality mountain bikes. |
| TRAIL TYPES | Railtrails, towpaths, reservoir trails, estate or forestry tracks. Traffic quietened roads, and those regulated by bylaws or other restrictions. | As "Green" plus bridleways, byways and unsurfaced unclassified roads. Lightly trafficked lanes. | Any usable trail with pushing or portage unlikely to exceed 2% of total distance. | Any, but with the expectation of technical riding which could include unforgiving terrain, severe climbs and descents, or considerable distances. Unlikely to be appropriate on PRoW. |
| GRADIENT | Shallow climbs and descents capable of being ridden by children and less active adults. | Shallow / moderate climbs +/- short sections of steeper climbs which may have to be walked. | A wide range of climbs and descents of a challenging nature. | Any ridable or usable gradient. May include "drop offs". |
| SURFACE / WIDTH | Blacktop or compacted limestone or gravel. Essentially smooth with a minimum content of loose surfaces. Normal width 2 to 3m. | Mostly stoned surfaces. < 10% earth based single track of width <2m. | Widths from 1m, and any usable surface. Likely to include singletrack and other technical sections. | Mostly offroad. Expected to include a significant proportion of singletrack, with challenging surfaces. |
| ACCEPTABLE HAZARDS | These trails should carry a very low risk... Any unavoidable hazards should be identified in promotional literature and through notices at trail headand site of hazard.
| Some loose surfaces, ruts, potholes and / or tree roots may be expected. | The route should be judged on the basis that a reasonably experienced rider riding within his/her level of skill and prevailing ground conditions, would not be expected to fall. | Hazards are expected, as assessed and agreed by an expert user. Falling off will be expected! |
| ADVISORY PARAMETERS | ||||
| TARGET LENGTH | 5 - 20 km | 10 - 20km | 10 - 50km | <1 to 100km including "skills" courses |
| MAXIMUM CLIMB | <50m | <100m | <500m | <1000m |
NOTES | ||||
| These standards are not intended to be prescriptive, but should be use to provide broad guidance. | ||||
| Full risk assessments should be made on all trails, following CTC guidelines. | ||||
| All trails should, where possible, have shortcut options,and these, plus the main trail should be comprehensively and clearly waymarked. | ||||
| Back up literature should clearly indicate the route, grade, distance, climb, and likely riding time, and this information should be reinforced by trailhead notices. | ||||
| Where designated routes embrace a combination of grades, these should be expressed as percentages, e.g. 10% Green, 60% Blue, 30% Red. | ||||
| Information should be provided to give the combination of trail grades likely to be encountered on permanent Trailquest courses. | ||||
Colin Palmer 14.6.99
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