Accommodation SatNav files Map
The Craic

COVID-19: How long must we bear it?

This is an older news story, posted 24/02/2021, and is out of date now. Please check for the latest update via our Covid-19 status page.
Confused by rules and roadmaps? Wondering when Scotland might re-open? Here’s how we’ll be helping you keep track of COVID-19 restrictions in Scotland this year.

As I’m sure you’re all aware, the whole of Scotland is currently under a “Stay At Home” order, meaning that recreational motorcycling is not allowed. (Sob!)

The Scottish Government has now released a tentative roadmap for the route out of lockdown. It’s not yet certain when the Stay At Home order will be lifted. However, it’s hoped that from late April, we might be able to go back to our previous levels-based system of regional restrictions.

Under this system, different regions of Scotland can be put under different restrictions, depending on the local COVID-19 situation. The Government’s aim is that all of Scotland can go into Level 3 towards the end of April, if possible, with restrictions further easing over time, again if possible.

Now for the complicated bit.

Under Scotland’s regional levels, the highest, Level 4 and the next-highest, Level 3, are very restrictive and recreational travel isn’t allowed.

At some point after the Stay At Home order is eased, some regions of Scotland may go down to Level 2 (or lower), while others stay in Level 3 or end up back in Level 4.

The Cloverleaf routes cover a lot of distance, and pass through many different regions of Scotland. This means that while local Level 3 or 4 restrictions are in place, parts of the routes may effectively be blocked because they pass through a Level 3 or 4 region. (And while Perthshire is in Level 3 or 4, everything will be blocked – more sob!) Or to put it another way, as we understand it from the way the Levels system worked in 2020:

The Crieff Cloverleaf motorcycling routes will ONLY be fully open once ALL the regions they pass through are in Level 0, 1 or 2.*
*(and if no other restrictions have been applied.)

To help you keep track of all of this, we’ve set up this new COVID-19 Status page. It shows all the Cloverleaf routes, and whether they are currently OPEN (thumbs-up, green) or CLOSED (thumbs-down, red) according to the current COVID-19 rules. (Obviously they’re all closed right now!) We’ll do our best to keep this page updated for the latest rules and regional restrictions.

We’re also consulting with our motorcycling mates at Police Scotland, to help keep us right in our interpretation of the Scottish Government guidelines.

Watch this space, and here’s hoping we can all get out on the road at some point in 2021. But if not, don’t worry – those fabulous roads aren’t going anywhere (so to speak), so there’s always 2022 to look forward to!

Back To Top