As per title – not been since 2007 and can barely remember it. Fancy doing something different from Cannock on 27th on thought it could be an option. Will it be horrendously busy with boys (and girls) on their new toys?

I haven’t been for about 3 years but i would say yes.
It used to be my favourite trail centre for a while (cannock and fod regular at the time)

We do exactly that every couple of months

Yes, Cannock TC has come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years but ‘Degla is a stronger Beast.

Black route with B-Line is a great ride, totally man made, no corner goes unbermed, no straight goes without a smooth and clear jump or drop or nicely glued down rock garden. I even love the technically piss easy but scary if you don’t like heights wood bit. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, it might not be for you. 😉

Yes, for a full day out turn left off piste after the first climb, head up to the masts and down the boardwalks.
Add in another lap or a lap of the blue and it can be stretched out a bit..

Yes it is a worth a 2hr drive….just…it is a shit drive though..I hate it..lots of Aroad.
As for it being busy..who cares? You can only fit one bike at a time down some singletrack, just keep an eye on your rear. I like trail centres to be busy, nice to scope out bikes, chat shit to strangers and it always makes me feel fast when I pass people

If you jump big jumps then it’s not so good… excellent fun if your going to improve your skills.
Trails are so freaking fast I over jump everything.

If you’ve been there 20 times, maybe not. As a rare day out, it’s as good or bad as most places. Would I pick it over Afan, maybe not. But there’s not much in it.
It’s more than Swinley, less than BPW.

I must be one of the few who hates llandegla. So much climbing with very little reward.

I’d rather ride Cannock tbh.

We regularly(ish) do the 2 1/2 hour each way trip to ‘degla.

It’s like a cheesy, brain-out, popcorn action movie for MTBers. You know exactly what you’re going to get (pretty much a UK trail centres greatest hits), it’s not too intellectually challenging, and it’s great fun every time.

So if you like Predator, Die Hard and Independence Day then it’s definitely worth the drive…

Degla is a lot of fun and worth a visit. Especially with noobies and/or a mixed ability group. It’s got mass market appeal, noobs can roll stuff, experienced riders can go hell for leather!

The black trails are really red grade and the “Black Jump Trails” all rollable, maybe red+ like BPW at most.

The trickiest bits are on the freeride trail and the biggest drops and jumps line in the skills area.

BPW is a massive upgrade with properly graded trails! The black trails feel like a black trail should and the “Pro Lines” are serious arse pucker material! Degla is in need of some naughty optional lines to spice it up a bit. Cannocks (very short) black opt-ins are much more difficult than anything at Degla!

Long mynd? Ace natural singletrack of 3km plus and just an hour or so away

I went a few weeks ago for the first time in tonks, it was fun and nice to ride dry, firm, well maintained singletrack.

Most of the jumpy bits seemed closed for logging though, so might be worth checking if that’s still the case.

You need to do at least two laps to make it worth that kind of journey.

I think it’s worth the drive…so much so I’ll be there on the 27th as well. I live 5 minutes from Cannock

Definitely worth it, the black route is really good. Not too difficult but fun

Was there again yesterday. It’s amazing how different the place feels now they’ve chopped down (even more) of the Forrest..
Mind, some great views.

How much of the trail was diverted?

pretty much a UK trail centres greatest hits), it’

Ha ha. Rofl. It’s really not. There are some great trail centres in the UK. Degla is really really not one of them. Let alone the best bits of all the best UK trail centres.

Goodness

Coed Y Brenin > Llandegla

It’s about a 1h 20 drive for us and we go there every few months as it’s fun and I like the climbs. It’s often mega-busy though, which is a downside for me.

Was there Saturday, it’s all open & worth the drive there…

How much of the trail was diverted?

Only a small section of the red..

It’s fine. Nothing more. Nothing less. I’d drive maybe an hour if it was pissing it down.

Looks like we are doing Degla. Ridden plenty of trail centres and BPW – happy in smaller drops but don’t do crazy gaps and drops. Should we be riding the black as opposed to red to get the most reward out of the day? On 130 and 140mm bikes.

It’s a long trip from where you are Rascal, but if you get the chance, try the long route at Nant y Arian.

Much more out in the sticks natural feel, combined with a fair few through the woods trail centre tracks.

I’ve not been to Llandegla for a couple of years but it always brings out a big grin, although the blacks are a must for the biggest smiles.

Long Mynd is a good idea although it’s more of a long summer day out adventuring for me as some of the climbs (all of them 😀 ) are pure evil – and busy with walkers.

Looks like we are doing Degla. Ridden plenty of trail centres and BPW – happy in smaller drops but don’t do crazy gaps and drops. Should we be riding the black as opposed to red to get the most reward out of the day? On 130 and 140mm bikes.

There’s nothing you can’t roll on the black there. I’ve only ever been round it on a hardtail. There’s some big air if you want it on the black but if you don’t, there’s no air at all.

As above. I must have ridden around llandegla at least 30 times over the years on everything from a 160mm full suspension and I much prefer it on a hardtail.

As above really, been a few times and I quite enjoy it, and it’s about a 2hr drive each way for me too. I went with a mate that doesn’t really ride and he managed the black fine although he didn’t like the boardwalk sections! I made a little highlight video if you like from a couple of months ago if your interested. [video]https://youtu.be/mi4m3ZI8NcE[/video]

There’s also an uncut video of the best sections somewhere on my channel if your really interested.

Thanks for your input – def gonna go now. I like Cannock which is closer but there’s little thrill in going anymore as know it so well and do it so often (the 2 Cliff descents are still great though!). At least this offers something new. Adam Twonks – fancy coming along? Did Long Mynd in the summer – great descents with some horrid climbs – great day’s riding though – the Weds night lot had an away day. Just to be clear, is B Line part of the black trail or entirely different?

Get a copy of the trail map and you’ll see all the blacks are little branches off the red.

I really like the place as it’s not trying to be anything other than a man-made bike playground. The do a lap/cafe/do a lap/cafe routine gets very addictive. I’m hoping to get there sometime in January to do a Wednesday day/night ride they do there, great fun getting air and zipping between the trees in the dark then warming back up in the cafe. Did I mention the cafe? It’s good 8)

rascal- yes, the B-line is part of the black, and then merges back with the red.
(We did Long Mynd in the summer too: 4 different but equally brutal climbs and some good descents, my favourite was Minton Batch)

It sounds a bit harsh, but every time i go to Llandegla, i ride round, waiting for the “good stuff” everyone raves about to start, and then find myself back at the cafe…. Ok, there may be some good stuff off piste, but ive never found it.

(but i have found the awesome, ride down off the masts in the track that’s actually a stream single track, which is some of the best natural singletrack i’ve ridden in the uk 😉

Ride out of Llandegla at the end of the fireroad clumb; ride to the Ponderosa for a massive school lunch; ride out and up/down/up/down the trail opposite, follow that for a few miles, drop down into Llangollen; coffee and cake there, ride back up the old horseshoe pass to Llandegla, finish the loop at the cafe. Job done.

@muddyground I’m going on Thursday would you have a GPX of that route?
gchippetteATmsnDOTcom
Cheers

(but i have found the awesome, ride down off the masts in the track that’s actually a stream single track, which is some of the best natural singletrack i’ve ridden in the uk

And also a footpath, on a protected moorland… 😳

Sorry, no. It’s all reasonably straightforward though. Good luck with it!

Did two laps on two long travel 29ers the other week.

Definitely taking my hardtail next time, I reckon it’ll be much more involving and fun.

Not that it didn’t have it’s moments, but I was really only looking for dry trails and to get a bit of climbing in that day.

Llandegla Black and the Worlds End off piste loop is worth it a few times a year for me (1 hour 10 minutes drive each way).

The ride becomes 35-40K with the off piste loop depending on if you do the mast loop as well

To just do the Black on it’s own? I think it would be too short of a ride to be worth all the travelling it’s only 20k I think so it’s over in no time.

Also the Black grade is not like a Black anywhere else. The Black must get its grading based on the speed and the potential to leave the ground rather than the technicality of just getting down it. It would be comparable to a Blue or Red at some places. e.g. Antur Stiniog

Well we did it. Was a touch longer than 2 hrs. Thought the descents were good – some evil climbs though that could be down to too much wining and dining in the last few days. What they call blacks are actually reds everywhere else – odd trail grading. Good cafe at the end. Lots of Whyte T130s so good taste abounds there 😉 Bloody freezing but that’s not their fault. Would I go again? Yes, but all things considered Cannock makes more sense from a time point of view. Will def go back but not frequently.

The Blacks at Gisburn are far harder than Llandegla black.

Dragons Teeth, Bigfoot Slap (& Climb it dab free), Hully Gully (not hard), Log Ride (insane), Black Diversion on Swoopy (A scary drop but the real skill is to get up on the other side),
Leap Of Faith (risk & skill level is in another world compared to anything else mentioned so far)

Blacks at Cannock – All very short sections, some of them not too bad, some of them very tricky and carry a high level of risk. Far harder than Llandegla’s black.

Lee Quarry Black – known on strava as “Into the bowels of the Beast” – far harder, Extremely rough, Very rocky, Very exposed, high level of risk.

Antur Stiniog – Black Powder and Y Du are on a different level to Llandegla Black. It would definitely be a Red at this place.

Note that I know Gisburn, Lee Quarry and Llandegla well as I’ve visited them all many times but the other locations I’ve only been to twice.