This is a 16 mile mountain bike route around Moel Famau in the Clwydian Range, a chain of hills just inside the North Wales border near Chester. The riding on this route, although not very technical, is enjoyable as it has a good mixture of trails and a great descent off Moel Famau into the Vale of Clwyd. The trails are pretty much ridable all year but when it's wet it's muddy.
This mountain bike route of just over 20 miles comprises two loops starting the car park at Moel Arthur in the Clwydian Range. The first loop is a fairly easy loop of 11miles with nothing too technical or too steep. The second loop, although shorter at 9.5miles, has some rocky, loose descents and climbs that are long and steep in places. Most of the ride takes place on rocky doubletrack but being the Clwyds if it is wet it will also be muddy.
This mountain bike route of just over 18 miles takes in the low trails to the east of Moel Famau, on the way to Cilcain. After climbing to the ridge of the Clwydian Range the second half follows trails used in my 'Moel Famau and the Vale of Clwyd' route. The ride is more challenging than the Moel Famau route as the trails to Cilcain, and the descent into the Vale of Clwyd, are a bit more tricky. It's also 2 miles longer. Pretty much rideable all year round but muddy when wet.
Starting from below Moel Famau this mountain bike route follows the rolling hills to Nercwys Forest before returning along the Southern end of the Clwydian Range. Not especially technical but it does contain some really nice descents. There is a bit of tarmac on this ride but it is mainly along quiet country lanes and is quite enjoyable. It makes the ride feel slightly less than its distance of 21 miles.
This is a mountain bike route of 19 miles in the Clwydian Range, a chain of hills just inside the North Wales border near Chester. It crosses the eastern flanks of Moel Famau, heading to the village of Cilcain and back. The riding is on a good mixture of trails with wide forest tracks, muddy and rocky singletrack, fast sweeping descents and technical rock sections. The trails are pretty much ridable all year but when it's wet it's muddy.
This mountain bike route of 18.2 miles travels through the hills on the south side of the Ceiriog Valley, in North Wales. On this ride you will tackle four big climbs and four big descents, on a mixture of loose rocks, muddy ruts, slate bed rock and grassy fields, with a bit of tarmac to link it up. It’s a great ride with lots to keep you concentrating on the trail ahead but don’t forget to look up once in a while, the views are stunning.
This mountain bike route of 20.5 miles starts in Glyn Ceiriog in North Wales. It uses trails in the Ceiriog Valley to the south and west of Glyn Ceiriog, which includes the Pheasant Track across Bryn Du. The route is about 40% tarmac but this generally on the flat and the climbs, which helps reserve your energy for the fantastic off-road sections, especially the last two descents.
This mountain bike route of 21.2 miles starts in Glyn Ceiriog, in North Wales. It takes in the trails towards the eastern end of the Ceiriog Valley and for a short time drops into the Vale of Llangollen. The ride contains some testing climbs, which are paid back with fast rocky descents and some fantastic views.
This mountain bike route of 32 miles circles Cadair Berwyn, situated at the western end of the Ceiriog Valley in North Wales. It circles the mountain in a clockwise direction with a 50/50 split between quite country lanes and middle of nowhere feeling moors. The ride incorporates some of the best descents the area has to offer, including the Wayfarer. It’s a fun but hard ride with fantastic views, definitely one of my favourites.
This mountain bike route of 18.5 miles is set in the beautiful area around Lake Vyrnwy in Northern Powys. It uses tracks through the forest to the East of the lake for a mixture of rocky doubletrack and grassy, muddy trails. The route is still rideable in the worst of weather as the grassy and muddy parts are mainly used for the descents.
The Cli-machx in the Dyfi Forest, near Machynlleth, is a great man made mountain bike trail but I do find it a bit of a long way to go for such a short route, at just over 9 miles. To make it worth the trip I have extended it by adding in some of the natural trails the forest has to offer. It's not much longer at 14.6miles but there are an extra four great descents spread out across the route to spice things up.
This mountain bike route of 23.7 miles starts from just outside Conwy in North Wales. It contains some hard riding, including a long rocky climb to the summit of Drum mountain at 770m. The pay back is a 3.5 mile descent from the summit and that’s only one of a number of great descents. As well as good riding there are fantastic views across the coast and the Great Orme.
This mountain bike route of 25miles adds a loop of natural trails into the middle of the Marin Trail. It uses part of the historic Sarn Helen trail to head south from the Marin Trail before a return leg below Moel Siabod. This extra loop has a mixture of forest tracks, rutted double track, bouldery descending and fantastic views.
This is a mountain bike route of 29.6 miles on the western edge of the Snowdonia National Park, in North Wales. It starts from just outside Dolgellau with a gentle warm up and beautiful views on the Mawddach Trail before heading into the mountains behind Barmouth for some long, hard climbs and technical, rocky descents.
This mountain bike route of 19.2 miles is an extremely difficult and technical ride. It uses all the bridleways on Snowdon and in doing so reaches the summit twice. Steep, bouldery trials that will test your riding skills to the limit make up the majority of this route. The percentages included on what is ridable are based on a very fit rider comfortable with riding Scottish level black runs. There is a lot of hike-a-biking on this route so you must be happy with pushing and carrying your bike. When riding this route please adhere to the times of the voluntary bike ban.
Starting in Llandrillo this mountain bike route of 22 miles travels over the hills to the west and south of Cadiar Berwyn. There are some great trails on this route with a mixture of grassy singletrack, slate and rocks. You will have to be willing to work for the payback though. There is a section of just over 1/2 mile that climbs water logged moss to the top of Hafod Hir. It can be a bit of a slog but it's mostly rideable if ridden during very dry periods but if the ground's soft please walk to reduce your impact.
This mountain bike route of 10.9 miles takes you to the top of Cadair Idris, an 893m mountain near Dolgellau on the southern edge of the Snowdonia National Park. It is a big mountain climb with variety of trails starting with rocky double track, which then gives way to grass. The further you climb the more the rocks poke through, until a final 1.5 miles of boulder strewn track to the top. While there is some pushing the mountain is mostly ridable, if you have the legs for it.
This mountain bike route of 26.3 miles adds an extremely challenging loop of trails to the Marin Trail. The extra riding starts with a long and very steep climb out of Trefriw before some very technical riding around Llyn Cowlyd. There is more technical riding from Capel Curig to Llyn Crafnant, before the route heads east, past Llyn Geirionydd, to join the Marin Trail. A lot of the technical riding is on the flat or uphill, which will reduce a good riders pace to around 4mph. It’s a real test of skill and slow control and you’ve got to like technical climbing.
This 10 mile mountain bike route starts in Llanberis, in Snowdonia, and climbs the Llanberis Path to the summit of Snowdon before returning down the same track. Before attempting this, or any of the other Snowdon routes, remember even though it is covered in tourists Snowdon is a big mountain, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. The majority of the riding is made up of steep, bouldery trials that will test your riding skills to the limit. The percentages on what is ridable are based on a very fit rider comfortable with Scottish level black runs. Which ever route you choose there will be a certain amount of hike-a-biking, so you must be happy with pushing and carrying your bike. Also, please adhere to the times of the voluntary bike ban.
This mountain bike route of 23.5 miles starts in Glyn Ceiriog, in North Wales, and travels through the hills to the south side of the Ceiriog Valley. Stunning scenery and great riding make this loop well worth it. There is lots of great descending on this route but make sure you take your climbing legs as there are plenty of long steep climbs.
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