Exploring the network of top-class dedicated mountain bike centres from Snowdonia to South Wales; forest singletrack, wilderness trails and much more.
Coed-y-Brenin may be the daddy of Welsh, indeed British, mountain bike centres, but Wales has lots more great trails to go at.
Wales is a hilly country, except where it’s mountainous, and there’s good mountain biking terrain almost everywhere. The dedicated centres are well spread across the country.
(Incidentally, for overseas readers, Wales is still part of the United Kingdom but now has its a much increased level of self-government with its own Assembly in Cardiff. However, English people still sometimes refer to it as ‘the Principality’).
Working from north to south, the first centre is Gwydyr Forest, near the town of Betws-y-Coed, which is widely regarded as the outdoor capital of Wales. The high peaks of Snowdonia begin just to the west, but Gwydyr’s Marin Bikes Trail snakes over lower, mostly forested, hills just to the north of the town. Wherever there’s a gap in the trees, stunning views to the peaks threaten to distract riders from the twisting, rocky and frequently technical trails. For the less ambitious there are miles of fire roads too.
Next stop southwards, and still in the Snowdonia National Park, is Coed-y-Brenin itself.
A bit further south, is Machynlleth, also home to the fascinating and inspiring Centre for Alternative Technology. The ‘real’ mountain biking here is concentrated in the Dyfi forest, with the highlight (for the competent!) being the 15km loop of the Raw Dyfi Enduro. This climaxes with the longest descent in Wales, packed with drop-offs, jumps and bi-i-ig berms.
Just inland from the bustling university town of Aberystwyth is Nant-yr-Arian. There’s a different emphasis here, forest singletrack coexisting with trails that have a more natural, wilderness feel. Much use has been made of pre-existing tracks and paths, with some subtle development in the interests of rideability and sustainability. The Continental Tyres Syfydrin Trail is a 35km wilderness loop with big climbs and rocky descents amid wild surroundings.
Llanwrtyd Wells, Britain's smallest town, is home to the annual Man v Horse races and is a great centre for riding natural trails as well as the 15km of purpose-built single track at Coed Trallwm. This is the newest centre in Wales and that 15km is growing almost by the day, but because it is so new there’s relatively little rider feedback so far.
Moving on into South Wales, Afan Forest Park claims to be the fastest growing mountain bike area in Britain, and now rivals Coed-y-Brenin in importance. The original visitor centre has been supplemented by the brand-new Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre, with bike shop, service and café. There’s over 100km (62 miles) of trails, sponsored by npower renewables. The piece de resistance is the 46km Skyline Trail, which has over 2000m of climbs and descents. Scenic riding - as the name suggests - is interspersed with demanding technical sections before the testing final descent of Jetlag.
Last but not least, Cwm Carn is close to the town of Newport and easily reached from Cardiff as well as English cities like Bristol. It has flowing single track on the Twrch Trail sponsored by Whyte bikes (apparently it’s a favourite with their bike design team), plus a brand new freeride area and the extreme downhill of Y Mynydd Mojo.
Wales has a lot of fantastic mountain biking in a small area, and there’s more to come. For further details visit the dedicated website.
