Unsuitable For Caravans

One of the many things that Pandemic 2020 brought us was a feeding frenzy in the UK’s used campervan and caravan market. Suddenly everybody wanted a self-contained DIY-holiday-mobile for UK staycationing. (Fair enough too; even here at Clover Central we started hatching a no-frills White Van Plan…)

Naturally, because it’s so beautiful, Scotland is a popular destination for road trips of all kinds. Motorcyclists have always loved coming here, and we’re seeing growing numbers of driving afficionados in extremely posh hypercars. (Just for the record, don’t take your Lamborghini on steep, winding single track roads unless you fancy being rescued by a tractor.) “Residential” vehicles such as campervans, bigger American-style RVs and caravans also hit the roads in holiday season. However, if you’re travelling in Scotland with campervan, RV or caravan, and you’re thinking of trying to do the Crieff Cloverleaf, you should think again.

Great for bikes, not for larger vehicles

The Crieff Cloverleaf routes have been carefully designed by motorcycle riders with motorcycle touring in mind. Motorbikes are much smaller and more nimble than cars, and are perfectly suited for tackling adventurous, steep, winding single-track wilderness roads.

Each Cloverleaf route includes stretches of narrow single track that will be difficult or impassable in a large vehicle. Some of the roads we use are explicitly signposted as unsuitable for caravans, buses and larger vehicles. As well as possibly getting you stuck, taking your caravan or campervan on these roads might violate your vehicle insurance or hire terms.

On single-track roads, motorbikes can usually ease their way around oncoming vehicles, with due care and caution. Larger vehicles – even ordinary cars – will have a harder time, and this can be frustrating. Who wants to reverse a caravan back round a corner to reach the nearest passing place? And then have to do it again two minutes later?

Other options for drivers

There are plenty of great driving routes in Scotland for cars and larger vehicles. You can still use Crieff as an ideal touring base, and have a wonderful multi-day road trip adventure. But please – don’t try to use your campervan or caravan to follow the Crieff Cloverleaf satnav routes. They’re carefully designed with bikes in mind, and they’re definitely unsuitable for caravans and campervans.