Anyone else out at Davagh today? The weather was a bit average but the trails were excellent. I have not been for a while and forgot how good they are. Thankfully I also forgot about the climb to get to the top of the red runs. There was plenty of soggy cyclists in the carpark and not much chat as the bikes went away quickly and people headed off to warmer and drier places.

Dogsby

Not been in a while as Donard and Tolly have been riding so well this past month (though Tolly was slippy as today). I think Davagh’s by far the best of the trail centres though.

Tollymore is a great trail. Not sure if Davagh is that much better than all of the others in NI; if pressed I would probably choose Rosstrevor

I prefer Davagh as mostly you can ride as fast as you want. Some good bits at them all but lots of RT, CW and the others all have stupid speed checks in the form of ‘safety’ rocks or the trails weave pointlessly through tight, flow-sapping trees.

I like Rosstrevor as you get all of the climbing out of the way and then you have about 14 kms of mostly downhill apart from the odd bit here and there.

The road climb up to the top of Davagh just makes me think of the possibility of getting a lift up!! I heard there were thoughts of extending the singletrack climb?

Dogsby

Davagh was built for a fraction of the budget of Rostrevor, but it was built by people who are experienced trail builders, not a random construction company who usually build footpaths.

What few trails there are in Davagh have excellent flow, and as Euro says can be ridden as quickly as you like. Conversely the majority of trails in Rostrevor and Castlewellan are straight lines with 90 degree corners, and are plagued by demarcation rocks and trees inside corners. They also suffer from the mistaken impression that big rocks dumped in piles = technical challenge. Also, uphill landings WTF? The people who were onsite as “mountainbikers” advising euro services when they were building Rostrevor and Castlewellan were hopelessly out of their depth and ride at a beginners level, hence the trails are fine for beginners but frustrating for people who don’t want to brake in a straight line then crawl around a 90 degree corner.

This was discussed ad nauseum on ni forums and facebook groups when the trail centres opened.

On a more optimistic note, Architrail are designing the trails for Gortin Glen, lets just hope they don’t lose the tender to actually build them.

I have to agree about the level rock gardens in Rostrevor.

On a more optimistic note, Architrail are designing the trails for Gortin Glen, lets just hope they don’t lose the tender to actually build them.

Good news for Gortin and Rowen Sorrell will hopefully be doing something in my local forest. If Back on Track don’t get to build them, i’ll be up at every opportunity to make sure who every builds them (most likely euro services again as they now have a ‘track record’ for this kind of thing) don’t **** it up 😀

Hi. OH and I are heading over to NI for a few days soon. We’ll be staying near Newcastle and have two days riding planned. Rostrevor is a definite for one day (hopefully with uplift). What would you guys recommend for the second day? Only other place we’ve ridden before is castlewellan. Thanks in advance.

Julzm,

There are some great trails in Tollymore

Dogsby

if you are staying in newcastle then the natural stuff in tollymore is a must. there is stacks of great stuff. a bit of google strava and garmin should give you a good idea. plenty for 3-4 hours

Took the kids a spin to davagh today, let them have a spin on pump track and skills loop.
New adventure playground great for them too
Three and six
Haven’t ridden it in a while as garvagh is far closer, few new trails in garvagh and I’d rate it as one of the best xc centres in Ireland
Not much in way of height but plenty of technical trails
Having lived in Scotland a long time I’d say it’s Northern Ireland’s drumlanrig

Close to Newcastle, Tollymore has a good mixture of trails and as above you could enjoy 3-4 hours there. If you’re looking for something more challenging Donard forest (nextdoor to Tollymore) has some excellent trails which are quite a bit more technical. Donard park is actually in Newcastle so you’ll not even have to venture anywhere.

Rostrevor also has some fantastic natural trails quite apart from the shitty trail centre stuff but can be extremely technical and hard to find, not to mention tight going to get to. Bigwood is worth a look too if you get a dryish week.

+1 for Tollymore, all natural trails and great for 3+ hrs, would advise a grippy front tyre as it can still be damp even after a week of dry weather. During the winter months I run with a Baron front and Rubber Queen rear.

Hi thanks for the replies! Tollymore sounds a good option and right up our street, can’t beat the natural stuff. I’ll do some digging on strava as I don’t have a garmin.

Tyre wise I’ve got a WTB vigilante team and OH has a magic Mary, do you think that would be grippy enough?

Thanks again.

Is there waymarked trails at Garvagh? Didn’t get chance to ride there last time I was over but am back in May. Davagh is local to the in laws and I’ve ridden lots there and Rostrevor, be nice to have a blast round somewhere new.

julzm
Tyre wise I’ve got a WTB vigilante team and OH has a magic Mary, do you think that would be grippy enough?

Perfect.