I’m not an xc whippet so probably won’t do both but which do folk recommend above the other?

Thinking of doing one of them Saturday and then heading down to Nant Yr Arian Sunday as I’ve not ridden either of these ‘centres’ yet.

Have ridden them both. Can remember some of Penmachno but Marin has been wiped from my mind. So probably says how good Marin was or wasn’t. I’d go for Penmachno.

I’d do Penmachno over the Marin.

Penmachno.

The Marin trial seemed an odd design to me – too much climbing on singletrack and descending on fire road … didn’t think much of it to be honest.

I would recommend the Marin for beginners though, although only if you can’t get to Llandegla.

Penmachno definitely! I love Penmachno, its probably one of my favourite trails. It will be VERY wet this time of year though!

Penmachno for sure. Be sure to do the long loop (loop2). As mentioned it will be wetter than an otter’s pocket, but a fantastic ride.

Try and do the long trail at Nant yr Arian too (Syfridin trail or something). It gets the best bits of the other trails, plus some cool ‘out there’ scenery. Bit of a slog if it’s raining though.

HTH

Penmachno every time – The Marin IMHO can be a little dull at times

Love them both, but if I had to choose, Penmachno, definitely.

You’ll want some waterproof boots for Penmachno if it’s been raining. I rode it in July and whilst it wasn’t muddy, the trail was basically one long stream. More interesting than Marin but a bit damp!

Thanks all, Penmachno it is! 🙂

I would like to do the longer run at Nant too but to be blunt, my mate isn’t up to it( I may not be either as it goes, bit out of fitness right now)

I take it, it is all easy to follow the route like most places? There isn’t a downloadable map on MBWales as far as I can tell.

I’m not local but found my way round without any difficulty – all well signposted and you can’t go wrong. I think I looked at this map before I went.

penmachno loop 1 map

Both, they aren’t far from each other.

think I looked at this map before I went

So there are two loops at Penmachno that you can link together? How long are both together?
Worth doing?

Both loops together are about 30km

Kayak, there’s a route map at the start of Penmachno.

It’s pretty easy to follow, but I always take a snap of it on my phone just in case.

Just make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the loop 2 turn off. I managed to miss it. Somehow. It’s at the end of a trail section where it T-junctions with a fire road.

I preferred Marin to Penmachno. I must be completely out of step with most STW forum dwellers….phew! 😉

Then again, I did ride Penmachno in some disguting weather one New Year’s Eve, so perhaps the experience was tainted.

Penmachno Route Maps, show clearly where the two loops conjoin;

Loop 1

Loop 2

If you’ve got the energy to do both loop 1 & 2 at Penmachno then do it, far far better IMO than Marin.

+1 for penmachno.
Got to do both loops though.
It even finishes with two nice little descents. 🙂

There are couple of bits of the Marin a quite like but quite a lot of Penmachno. The last big run down is especially good.

Thanks for your help all. I’ll see what energy levels are like on the day 🙂

I did both last week, different days. Penmachno was pretty dry and very quite, didn’t see a solo all afternoon. The Marin has som diversions at the moment and you miss the top of the first climb and some nice down and also some of the last climb and one of the last 3 downs, which is a shame.

I like both, Marin does have some downhill fire road, which annoy me, but the final downs more than make up for it. I did both loops of Penmachno last week, but tend to miss the new one off normally as its a bit more XC (IMO).

At the moment I’d do Pen with out the new loop and the Marin. Weather is a key consideration, if it’s pissing down or windy I’d avoid Penmachno, as it pretty exposed in places, the Marin handles the bad weather much better. Enjoy.

On a slightly different note – are any of you folks local?

If so do you know if its possible to ride from Betwsy on to the trail with out going the long way round (along the A5 and B4406). It looks like there might be a short cut on the maps along some country lanes off the A470 onto the second loop, though there also looks like good potential to get lost! There are 12 of us heading to Penmachno on Saturday so I don’t fancy getting the blame for getting us all lost!
Cheers

Penmachno, by miles.

If you want to start from Betwsy, it’s easy enough to pick up the northern Loop in the middle via the bridge over the river off the A470 by the Fairy Glen. Just short section of tarmac after the bridge then up a steep Forestry track. I did a similar thing starting from Dolwyddelan with the intent of just doing loop 2 but following the signs I ended up on loop 1 where they meet up without noticing any alternative options so ended up doing them both anyway.

I did the Marin a few weeks ago in the ice which made the fireroad down hill section a bit more interesting 😉 I really enjoyed it and the final decsent is brilliant. I’ve not done Penmachno but will be doing so in the not too distant based on everyones praise.

I did Nant Yr Arian years ago and it was excellent, it’s definitely somewhere I want to get back to again.