I’m down in Chester with work this week and I’ve managed to wangle the afternoon off. I’ve got the bike in the car which is nice! I’m thinking of riding either the Marin Trail at Betws y Coed or One Planet Adventure at Llandegla tomorrow. I haven’t ridden either of those trails before, does anyone have an opinion on which is the best? Cheers

degla! every day of the week, it has a pump track, skills section and a cafe, none of which are present at the Marin. It has also has jumps, black sections and boardwalks which likewise aren’t present at the Marin.
You might like Marin if you like the wilds with no facilities and lots of fireroad.

A tough one the new not the marin trail is excelent has zero trail facilities at the trail head but betws is just down the road. Llandegla also awesome with burgers. Of the 2 the marin feels the most natural even has some steps for you to walk up more fire roads aswell mostly up hill so not so bad. Degla has more jumps and high speed swoopy stuff. Marin takes longer longer aswell if time is a constraint.

Depends what you like about biking? If it’s more the great views, flowing trails, the feeling of getting away from it all and a sense of wilderness then Marin trail is best. If you prefer carefully manicured trails, go big or go home, and a bacon butty and jet wash at the end of your ride then Llandegla the better choice.

I reckon the marin will also pretty much be dead and degla is always popular, but you know, you can only fit one bike down singletrack at the same time.

Marin for me. Degla was a bit meh for me

I’d say marin

But it depends what you want

Llandegla has has the full trail center experience

Split the difference go to Penmachno! although you will feel like you’ve had colonic irrigation by the time you get to the end 😉

degla is always popular, but you know, you can only fit one bike down singletrack at the same time.

If you define ‘singletrack’ as being three foot wide…another vote for Penmachno.

Penmachno is a great trail. Marin has a new name now by the way, Gwydir Mawr!

Degla or Penmachno, Marin a distant 3rd, unless yer doing some of the natural stuff out the back to make it into a proper ride.

It’d be Marin for me every time. The trails are interesting and fun. The climbing is also mostly on fire road, which I like. I really do not rate penmachno at all and don’t particularly enjoy degla either.

(Llan)degla! every day of the week, it has a pump track (which is pretty much worn out), skills section (which no one rides…along with the ‘freeride’ bit) and a cafe (which is over priced), none of which are present at the Marin (thank god). It has also has jumps (most of which are blind and/or too short), black sections (which would be graded blue in scotchland) and boardwalks (woohoo…..wood,how very early 2000’s) which likewise aren’t present at the Marin (apart from they are).

I live 4 miles from there….and would still rather go to Betws.

Marin every time for me.

Personally I’d opt for Penmachno, but if your after a convenient mid week ride with a cafe, toilets etc.. right at the end of the trail then Degla. You can always do it twice

It’ll be drier than Penmachno too, a LOT drier

Penmachno is obviously best

I only didn’t say it wasn’t on the list

It’s a bit like some one saying do you want red or white wine, so you say red. Then some other guest asks for a beer and gets one. It’s just not fair

black sections (which would be graded blue in scotchland)

So true

I think I road a double orange spot in the “Skills area” it was basically riding of a kerb.

I’m down in Chester with work this week and I’ve managed to wangle the afternoon off

Regardless of the relative merits, I think logistics will play a part:

It takes roughly 2.5 hours to get round the Marin,

It’s dark by 4pm – you would probably want to be finished the trail not much after 3pm (the best bit is at the end in trees, so you need a bit of light).

Chester to Llanrwst (Marin) is over an hour’s drive.

Sounds tight to me, unless you have bike lights (or a generous definition of ‘afternoon’)

Chester to Llandegla is ~40 minutes.
You can be around Llandegla in about an hour and a half.

Sounds more do-able to me.

Everything Rorschach said

If you like artificial riding in a conga of full face & goggle wearing edit wannabes go llandegla.
If you like riding in Ron Hills, sub 600mm bars with a 130mm stem & canti brakes go Marin.
For a great riding experience with a few natural feeling challenges go Penmachno

Marin, boring as all hell until the end. No facilities, hard to get to.

Degla, fake as bawls but mucho fun. Lots of options blue, red and black options, optional lines like the wonderful B-Line, jump lines, free ride lines. Pump track. Great centre, lovely food.

If you like artificial riding in a conga of full face & goggle wearing edit wannabes go llandegla.
If you like riding in Ron Hills, sub 600mm bars with a 130mm stem & canti brakes go Marin.
If you like riding underwater For a great riding experience with a few natural feeling challenges go Penmachno

FTFY 😉

(Llandegla will be quiet mid week, I would think.)

You’re not made of salt or sugar, you won’t melt. Bit of water won’t hurt you.

Honestly todays riders, if there isn’t a restaurant or someone to hold their hand around a groomed trail they aren’t interested. What happened to the hardy, self sufficient follow your nose and explore riders?

No facilities

Llanrwst’s a 5 minute ride from the main carpark, there’s a pub, betting office, bike shop, cafés, newsagent, butcher, baker, candlestick maker, not too mention a beautiful river to go and sit and chill by before/after a ride, what facilities do you require?

rOcKeTdOg – Member
You’re not made of salt or sugar, you won’t melt. Bit of water won’t hurt you.

Unless they have done some magic (ie stopped some of the trails being actual water courses) it’s always more than a bit of water. It’s a full body soaking, given there are no showers etc. near by it was never one I wanted to do with a long drive after.

What happened to the hardy, self sufficient follow your nose and explore riders?

The still exist, but honestly unless your a masochist pick your days!
The 3 choices are all different.
If you list the fun bits
Llandegla, flowy, fun, jumpy, easy, stress free, warm cafe serving decent food.
Betws – where is started in some ways, lots of rock and old school singletrack etc.
Penmachno – wild, views, great single track, solitary

For me, afternoon off this time of year from Chester would be Llandegla, simple and easy and fun for me.

I rode Llandegla the other day for the first time after a few years gap.
Everyone says it’s like a bmx track but it’s pretty beaten up these days so I wouldn’t call it groomed or manicured by any stretch (gets more traffic than the M6).

It is what it is and you can have fun on it.

The Marin trail on the other hand is almost entirely fireroad seemingly. Beautiful surroundings, dull riding.

Pays your money etc.

I’d go to Llandegla I think.

The final three descents on the Marin are some of the best of any UK trail centre I’ve ridden. You could head there and just do a few laps of the climb and final descents.

Llandegla has got steadily worse, I ride there maybe once a year, and never understand why it’s so busy, it’s such an uninspiring place and ride. If you link in the end of the world route it improves it a bit, but this time of year won’t be possible probably, especially with all the rain.

Penmachno is probably the best of the three if you’re going out riding on your mountain bike.

I thought Llandegla was in need of some TLC in places when I rode it over the summer. I normally use it to break up the drive from Yorkshire to mid-Wales but probably will find something different next time.

Never ceases to amaze me when folk local to Llandegla slag it off. It’s unashamedly a trail centre designed for all abilities and has the facilities to cater for every level of rider. It isn’t dull but neither is it overly difficult as that would defeat its purpose.

At this time of year Llandegla is a quick, easy MTB fix with the added bonus of a good cafe (perfectly reasonably priced) and good facilities. Riding the Marin or Penmachno at this time of year, alone, isn’t the greatest idea, unless you have good local knowledge as there are short cuts to make the loop quicker.

Logistics is a good point, with Llandegla being closer and quicker to get round. It has been extremely wet these last couple of days too in this part of the world (I live a couple of miles from Llandegla) so Llandegla will come into its own as a weatherproof trail centre.

If you accept Llandegla for what it is, you’ll enjoy it. People DO use the skills area, freeride track and pump track (I do – I can bike from home, mess about on them, bike home, all within an hour or so which gives a good mix/fix of fitness and messing about).

I’d put Marin and Penmachno on the list of places to go in Summer if you are up here then but for the here and now, Llandegla would be my advice.

Penmachno is less of a trail, more of a river.

You’re not made of salt or sugar, you won’t melt. Bit of water won’t hurt you.

Indeed, but a bicycle is not the right kit for Penmachno, a canoe is

😆

Echoing what snorkelsucker says.

Even on busy days I’ve never found Llandegla be too busy, and the terrain is varied across the length of the red and black.

I’ve ridden Marin a couple of years ago and whilst it was “different” compared to Llandegla, I wouldn’t go back, whereas Llandegla is always on our list. Cafe is excellent, trails are fun and there are enough options for a full day out there riding the different routes and spending time on the pump track, skills area and freeride track.

Snorkelsucker is right. Llandegla is what it is – fast jumpy fun and more importantly weather proof with an excellent cafe.

If you want another option maybe try Coed y Brenin? It has an excellent cafe too and hot showers (which Llandegla lacks). When it’s wet and muddy locally CyB never disappoints.

I’m local to Llandegla too but I go to Coed y Brenin through winter as many times as I go to Llandegla simply because if it’s cold and raining in Llangollen (low down) it can be snowing in Llandegla (lot higher up) but it’ll just be wet at Coed y Brenin.

When the snow is at lower levels (so that Bala might have snow too) I ride from home to Llandegla and that’s absolutely awesome fun. Fastest route from home to top of Llandegla climb takes me 1 hour to ride.

Otherwise I’m always spoiled for trail choice and it comes down to how much time I’ve got and if I can be bothered packing the car or use the time to just ride from home instead.

I do know I’m extremely lucky to live here. I just wish I’d discovered MTBing much earlier in life or not stopped riding bikes once I left school. I don’t know why I stopped riding. I love being able to just go out on an adventure, meet up with great friends, forget about everything else, have amazing fun and get an outdoor workout at the same time.

Pick one, ride it next time do a different trail, make your own mind up.
I have a soft spot for the Marin Trail and Penmachno but Llandegla is just not my type of thing.

What’s wrong with wrapping a towel round you and getting changed in the trail head car park? Granted it’s not a hot soapy shower with an overpriced slab of more in that out afterwards, but this is mountain biking afterall, not a spa weekend.

Did the Marin Trail for the first time last week. It’s brilliant, better than Llandegla by a long way.

it’s a bit confusing really, should we all be suffering as hard as we can or can we just go and do something that is fun?

Marin was my first trail centre – still love it

I went to Degla once – there was nobody else there – this was in the early days – would never go again

Penmachno is fun but don’t do the second loop

in the other opinions available section…
Liked the second loop of Penmachno on a nice day
Degla is nothing like the early days, heaps of different trails there, what was it you disliked?
Always best to explain as the things you dislike might just be the things others like 😉

Given that the OP only has the afternoon off the whole thread is a bit moot. Factoring in that the drive time from Chester to Betws-y-Coed (home of both the Marin and Penmachno) is approximately one and a half hours, assuming he (I’m assuming he is a he) sets off at 1pm, he’ll not get to the destination until 2.30 at the earliest. Factor in time getting lost finding the trailhead, setting up bike etc and it’s going to be more like 3pm before he sets off. Which isn’t enough time to complete either loop, inless he wants to session the final descents at Marin (which are – admittedly – excellent.

I’ve ridden all three on numerous occasions. My favourite is Penmachno. Despite the wet (and it is wet, wet, wet) it is an awesome cross of trail centre and natural riding (helped by the fact it is so exposed and eroded). Groomed trail centre it is not. And whilst the final descents on the Marin trail are good I’d plump for those at Penmachno if I had to choose.

Nevertheless, given the time/daylight constraints I’d say Llandegla is the only realistic choice as it’s a 40 minute drive. I like it, but it is what it is. And that is a trail centre designed to cater to all abilities, with a bit of extra spice thrown in for those who are more competent. The skills area does have some mickey mouse stuff admittedly, but there are a few features that will give all but the best riders pause for thought. Do the red route initially and then divert onto the black (keep left when it forks) for some excellent fast, flowy singletrack that threads narrowly (in places) through the trees. Some fairly leg burning climbs too and all finished off with some nice singletrack on the final bit of red that you rejoin. It’s fair to say that the black grading is on the ambitious side, but unlike those above I would probably class it as a difficult red on the Scottish trail centres that I’ve been on (admittedly only Glentress and Kirroughtree). The B-Line is good, fast fun and when you’ve finished, go up to the upper carpark and find the freeride trail. I’ll buy you a pint if you complete the northshore section..

Loop round the reds/blacks at Llandegla is anywhere between 1.5 – 2.5 hours dependent on fitness.

I love a which trail is best thread especially when it’s Llandegla vs anywhere else.

OP. Go Llandegla. It’s fun.

I love them all equally and I love natural riding locally too just as much.

Penmachno Loop 2 is so wonderful in the summer – such a wonderful track. The Marin is awesome every time (it bit me racing this year costing me the whole summer off injured and I need to go back). Llandegla is super fast and awesome. Coed y Brenin is just marvellous too.

Getting changed in the carpark doesn’t bother me one bit 🙂

Getting changed in the carpark at Penmachno is no big deal, there are only sheep knocking about to see you.

Suppose that’s a whole different thread for discussion though…