PROBLEMS caused by the unapproved construction of mountain bike trails on Scottish private land are being highlighted by a new awareness campaign.

Care for the Countryside, an initiative organised by landowner body Scottish Land and Estates, is warning of the safety risks posed by poorly constructed self-built trails.

The past decade has witnessed the popularity of mountain biking in Scotland reach an all-time high, with purpose-built facilities such as Glentress and 7stanes, alongside Scotland’s liberal access laws, contributing to a boom in interest from riders of all ages.

However, this period has also seen an increase in the number of unauthorised trails, obstacles and jumps being built by riders themselves on rural estates and farmland, with limited knowledge of how this might affect other users, the potential environmental damage and the range of mountain bikers who might use the trail.

As well as potentially proving dangerous for riders and other users, unauthorised trails present a liability for businesses and landowners who are duty-bound to risk assess the trail, whether they approved it or not, and develop a management strategy.

One estate that has experience of mountain biking is Sutherland Estate, near Golspie, which has experienced its footpaths being more heavily used by mountain bikers. In response to the demand, new signage was erected to focus access takers onto certain routes on the estate.

Bruce Taylor of Scottish Woodlands, who manages the Sutherland Forest Estate, said: “The Highland Wildcat trails have been a huge success over the last decade. The estate recognised there was an issue with mountain bikes being used on walking routes and that demand existed for better facilities for riders. Not every estate will be able to enable such a development on their land but it is worthwhile to try and work through the issues where a positive outcome can be achieved.”

SLaE policy officer Karen Ramoo said: “Rural businesses want to encourage mountain biking but at the same time ensure everyone enjoying a day out in the countryside has an enjoyable and fun experience. A landowner could be liable if a trail was discovered and they didn’t apply an appropriate management to the trail, leading to a rider or other access taker sustaining an injury.

"It can also present a real problem in terms of caring for trees, land and biodiversity. We want to encourage people to enjoy mountain biking safely but also for access takers to communicate with farms and estates if they see issues when they are enjoying our countryside.”

Project manager of Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, Graeme McLean, said: “Scotland enjoys world-class mountain biking trails and facilities, with both purpose built trails and a great range of paths which we can ride responsibly thanks to our generous access legislation.

“We want to encourage new and experienced participants to enjoy trails but also ensure riders are acting responsibly – caring for their surroundings and also minimising the danger to themselves.

“We understand there needs to be improved information and guidance for both mountain bikers and landowners on how they can work together to minimise this issue. We are part of a sub-group of the National Access Forum who will be developing this guidance and it will be released in 2018. We hope we can find models where mountain bikers can work with landowners to create appropriate trails in the appropriate locations."