Longannet Generating Station Longannet Generating Station. Photo: will craig / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Official route · Sustrans

NCN 76 - Round The Firth Of Forth

67.2 km 589 m climbing A day 18% off road Road cycling Central & Southern Scotland

The route runs gently out of Grangemouth and across the Forth floodplain before the ground stiffens through the Fife coalfield villages between Culross and Limekilns.

Most of the climbing is concentrated in that middle third. North and South Queensferry mark the crossing point, where the line threads between the two settlements on the southern shore. Around four-fifths of the route is on road.

The figures

Distance67.2 km
Climbing589 m
Off road12 km, about 18% of the route
Riding timeabout 3 hours, a long day
RegionCentral & Southern Scotland
Route fromSustrans

Worth knowing before you go

Settlements are close together for most of the way, so resupply is not a problem between Grangemouth and Bo'ness, or through the Fife villages. The stretch between Abercorn and Blackness is thin on services. Navigation wants attention around Inverkeithing and Jamestown, where the route passes through quickly and the line changes direction.

Put your own dates on this and TourTrax splits it into days at your pace, finds somewhere to sleep at the end of each one, estimates what it will cost and gets you to the start without flying.

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